Secrets
by AdrianKent
Summary: Four days until Christmas Eve. SG-1 get together to have some free time. They expect to be relaxing three days but they have to face the fact: there are strange things happening around them. Also some answers get answered.
1. Arrival

Hi, people. Here's my story, hope you'll like it and leave a hell lotta reviews. :D

ENJOY!

**Secrets**

**Chapter 1**

The hard snow crunched under the wheels of the 1967 Ford Mustang as it rolled across the small wooden bridge out of the forest to the clearing where the house stood. The grass and the trees that used to be green were all covered in snow making the view beautiful white in all directions. The small pond next to the house was frozen and the sunbeams' bright light reflected on the ice making it beautifully glitter. Though it was winter the temperature was unusually warm and the birds were singing as if it were spring.

The car stopped in front of the front porch and after the engine stopped, the two doors opened. Colonel Cameron Mitchell got out from behind the wheel and Dr. Daniel Jackson from the passenger's seat. Once they were out the three other members of SG-1 got out from the back seat; Colonel Samantha Carter, Vala Mal Doran and Teal'c.

'This is a nice place even in winter,' Cameron said and removed his sunglasses.

'Sure it is,' Daniel added.

'Indeed.' Teal'c agreed with his usual, still face.

Daniel took a step in the snow and it crunched under the weight of his shoes, just as it did under the wheels of Cameron's car.

'I so love the sound of that,' Sam said smiling when she heard the pleasingly soft sound of the snow.

'It is most interesting how humans can appreciate and enjoy such small things.' Teal'c stated.

'For ten years you have been here now and there are still new things to discover. Wonderful, isn't it?' Daniel asked Teal'c. He seemed almost as excited about it as his Jaffa friend, only Teal'c didn't show it.

'It is not the word I would use, Daniel Jackson. I prefer interesting just as I said before.'

Daniel was quite surprised, since he wasn't expecting an answer. 'Yeah, that's good enough.'

They started to walk toward the front door but before they could even reach the porch the door flung open and a familiar face appeared in the doorway.

'Howdy fellas!' The general greeted them.

'Jack!' Sam called out not really caring about calling her CO by his first name.

She was more than happy to see him again. Though she never would admit she had strong feelings for Jack O'Neill.

'It's either general, or sir.' Jack corrected but he didn't mind her calling him Jack.

'Sorry sir. It's just good to see you.' Sam apologized and corrected herself.

'No problem, Sam.' O'Neill said smiling at her with the kind of Jack O'Neill smile she had fallen in love with.

Jack moved away from the doorway and showed the others in. He shook hands with Daniel and Cameron as they passed then welcomed Teal'c and Vala and when it came to Sam he hesitated.

She looked beautiful standing there. It was a little strange to see Sam in other than military clothes but it was definitely the best meaning of strange. She was wearing a blue dress and black high-heeled leather boots. Her hair grew longer than the last time they met and Jack found her even more gorgeous this way.

'_Man, she's hot._' Jack thought.

He looked into her beautiful blue eyes and just stood there, waiting for something to happen.

It was good for him to see her again after a long time. Not a day had passed without him thinking of her after he had left SG-1, but now that she was actually standing there in front of him words just didn't come to mouth. He wanted to tell her how he felt but thought it better to stay professional. At least for the moment. He didn't know how long they had been standing there looking into each other's eyes but he could have stayed like that forever.

'Hi,' Sam said breaking the silence and gave Jack a kiss on his cheek. He could smell the scent of her hair as her lips touched his cheek and the smell took him off his feet. He wanted to hug her and hold her close to him and never let go but the moment ended and Sam walked away. He watched Carter join the others in the living room then closed the door and went after her.

When Jack arrived in the living room he saw the others had already made themselves comfortable. There was one empty place on the couch for him, of course next to Sam. Jack sat down and sent Daniel a 'you planned this, didn't you' look. He responded with a little smirk and quickly looked away before it was too obvious.

'So, where are the decorations?' Daniel asked and looked around in the house looking for some colorful stripe or orb.

'You do have some, don't you?' Vala asked when she had finished checking and didn't find anything.

'Well, yeah, they're in a box on the top of the fridge.' Jack answered.

'Good. There's no Christmas without fancy decoration,' Cam said and stood up and headed for the kitchen.

Nobody said anything until he returned with a huge paper box in his hands full of Christmas ornaments. He dropped it on the coffee table so that everyone could see it.

When Teal'c saw the colorful stripes in the box he remembered the time they spent on the Odyssey while they were trapped in a time distortion bubble. How many Christmas Eve's they had together. It was hard for him not to tell anything about those years to the others.

'We shall begin decorating immediately.' Teal'c suggested and took a red orb out of the box.

'Where's the tree?' Sam asked. It seemed nobody noticed that there was nothing like a Christmas tree in the house.

'Well, um, it's in the forest,' Jack answered with a triumphant smile on his face.

'Jack and I will go get it,' Daniel quickly announced before anyone could say anything.

'Really?' Jack asked surprised by Daniel's sudden statement.

'Yes. Come on.' Daniel answered and headed for the door.

'Well, you heard the man. I better go, you just have fun.' O'Neill told the others and went after Daniel.

'Sure ya betcha.' Sam said to the leaving general. When Jack heard one of his favorite expressions coming from Sam's mouth, he turned back and smiled at her so softly that Sam almost felt herself melting. The moment lasted until Daniel grabbed Jack's arm and showed him out the door.

After the door had closed Cameron stood up from the chair he was sitting in and turned to the others.

'Let's pimp this place.'

oOo

The weather became more like usual winter weather when they stepped out of the house. The temperature lowered a few degrees and it seemed to be a right decision for Jack to bring his leather jacket with him.

'So what is this about, Daniel?' Jack asked immediately once they had left the house and he was sure they were in safe distance so that nobody could hear them.

'What? I thought we were getting the tree,' Daniel said innocently, playing with Jack.

'Daniel.'

'Jack.'

'Daniel.' Jack obviously didn't like playing like this.

'It's more like who than what,' came the cryptic answer.

'Really?' Jack had a feeling he knew exactly who Daniel was referring to.

'See, Jack, before we came here Sam had told me to meet at her place. She was excited about this and she wanted everything to be perfect. You should have seen how long she had been thinking before she decided what to wear.'

'She definitely made the right choice.' Jack answered. He didn't like that the conversation was starting to make him feel uncomfortable.

'I told her to wear that.' Daniel admitted, unsure whether it would make Jack disappointed or not. Jack didn't respond and he never found out.

They walked deeper in the forest without any of them saying anything. Daniel figured that Jack hadn't really chosen a tree yet and they were walking aimlessly.

'So how was your trip here?' Jack finally asked, switching subject, trying to avoid any further embarrassment.

Daniel sighed disappointed. 'Come on, Jack, you mean a lot to her.'

'Could we just not talk about that?' Though he didn't want to admit, deep down inside Jack knew Daniel was right. He really should take a step.

'I'm just saying.' Daniel answered and with that the conversation was over and for a long time none of them broke the silence.

Daniel was about to ask how longer were they going to walk when Jack suddenly stopped. He showed Daniel to stop too and to stay silent.

'You heard that?' Jack asked after a short period of silence.

'Heard what?'

'I heard a twig crunch. Over there.' Jack whispered and pointed to the woods to their left. For a single moment Jack saw a dark shadow swish past between the trees.

'I didn't hear anything.' Daniel told him but he trusted Jack and stood quiet.

They both listened carefully but couldn't hear anything but the light wind around them and the birds' distant singing.

'Never mind. I think we shouldn't go further. There must be a fine tree somewhere around here.' Jack suggested and looked around analyzing nearby pine trees.

'I think I've found it.' Daniel said and waited for Jack to get to him.

'Nice.' Jack seemed to like the one Daniel had found and prepared his axe to cut the tree so they could carry it back to the house.

oOo

In Jack's living room Sam was the one to put up the last ribbon on the lamp hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the room.

'I think we're finished.' She said as she stepped down from the chair she used to reach the lamp.

'Indeed.' Teal'c assured her. 'The rest of the decorations are for the tree.'

'Speaking of which, Jack and Daniel should have arrived back by now.' Vala said.

'You think something…' Sam started, becoming worried.

'Don't worry guys. They're probably having a little boys chat.' Cam said trying to ease the others. It seemed to have worked.

'Yeah, you're probably right. Besides, what could there possibly be in the forest that could harm them?' Sam said trying to convince herself everything was ok.

'Grizzly bears, for example.' Vala said making Sam worried again.

'Come on, girls, grizzlies don't come out in winter. They are ok. Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta use the bathroom. Be right back.' Cam told the girls and left the living room leaving Vala and Sam alone.

Vala took a beer from the table and jumped back into the chair she had been sitting in. Sam just didn't look that happy. 'Do you think this dress…?' Sam started but Vala cut her short.

'Don't worry, you look great.' Vala said reassuringly when she saw in Sam's eyes she had doubts about the whole thing.

'Do I?' Sam now looked at Teal'c waiting for an answer.

'You look very nice in that dress, Colonel Carter.' Teal'c responded smiling kindly at Sam.

'Thanks. I hope he thinks the same.' Sam answered with a weak smile. She appreciated the help of her friends but still wasn't completely convinced.

'Hey, I'm sure he does.' Vala told her and drank from her beer.

'How about Daniel?' Sam asked after she'd sat down on the couch.

Sam could see on Vala's face the question hit her by surprise. 'What about him?'

'How are things going on between the two of you?'

Vala looked embarrassed. She tried to find the words to say but she felt too awkward to say anything.  
Teal'c was listening carefully without interrupting.  
Sam was about to continue torturing Vala when suddenly Cameron appeared in the living room. 'Missed anything?'

'Nothing.' Vala answered immediately. She wanted to hug Cameron for saving her from Sam but she thought that wouldn't be such a good idea.

They were just looking at each other, everyone waiting for the others to speak. Finally Vala broke the silence.

'So what do you think will be under the Christmas tree for you, muscles?'

'I am unsure.' Teal'c gave a short but telling answer.

'Well I think I'll get some nice necklace or some other expensive jewel.' Vala imagined a couple of golden and silver rings and necklaces.

The image dissolved as the front door opened and Jack and Daniel stepped in carrying the tree.

'We're back.' Daniel announced as they put the tree down next to the door.

'What took you so long?' Sam asked. She knew Cam was right and nothing had happened to the boys but she still wanted to find out the reason for being this late.

'We, umm, got lost.' Jack told her trying to avoid telling them the conversation he had with Daniel.

'Lost?' Cam could see right through them and didn't believe that for a second.

'Yeah. Lost.' Daniel agreed, assuring the others they were telling the truth.

'Right.' Cam said but he still wasn't convinced and neither were the others.

Jack and Daniel just stood there waiting for others to keep questioning their truthfulness but when nobody spoke they relaxed and sat down, Daniel back to his chair, Jack back on the couch next to Sam.

'Come, Teal'c, let's stand this tree in the corner next to the fireplace.' Cameron asked Teal'c and walked to the tree.

'Very well, Cameron Mitchell.' Teal'c answered and bowed his head slowly.

'I can assure you all; two days from now there will be a lot of nice little boxes under that tree.' Vala said happily watching Teal'c and Cam setting the tree in the corner of the living room.

When the tree was in place Cam turned to the others who were sitting comfortably around them. 'So are gonna help with the decorations or what?'

~TBC


	2. War Declared

**Chapter 2**

They finished decorating the tree a lot faster than they decorated the house. It looked nice and everybody could tell that they gave something into it. A smile appeared even on Teal'c's face as he looked around in the room.

'To tell you the truth, guys, my house barely ever looks like this.' O'Neill said.

'You like it?' Sam asked who was apparently satisfied with the look of the room.

'Well, it's different.' Jack answered after a moment of hesitation but then he realized it wasn't the best answer he could've given. 'It looks nice.'

'You realize of course that we're only going to need this tree the day after the day after tomorrow?' Cameron asked slowing down a little at the part when he counted the days until the 24th.

'At least it brings some color into Jack's life.'

'Oh, Danny boy, you can't possibly imagine how colorful my life already is.' Jack reassured Daniel smiling at him to make a better impression.

'And you could make it even better.' Daniel continued the conversation they had broken before in the forest.

'Really, how?' Jack replied sarcastically and sent a killing look to Daniel.

'I don't know, you tell me,' came the answer when Daniel knew he was in control of the conversation. Jack obviously didn't like that as much as he did.

Jack was about to take revenge on Daniel's mocking but Cameron interrupted. 'What's going on?'

'Nothing.' Jack and Daniel said all at once.

Cameron hopelessly sighed and turned to Vala and Sam who seemed to be better company.  
Teal'c was standing at the window looking out at the small pond but hadn't said anything for the last ten minutes. None of the others found that odd until Teal'c turned back. 'I saw something.'

'What?' Jack asked and walked to the window hoping he could see the mysterious thing too.

'I don't know but it's gone now. It went into the woods.' Teal'c answered with a serious expression.

'What was it?' Vala asked curiously.

'I am unsure. It was nothing I've encountered before. It was about four feet tall and it seemed to have been alien.'

'Sure it wasn't a grizzly?' Jack asked hoping he would get an answer they all needed.

'I am sure, O'Neill.' Jack's hope dissolved as he heard the answer.

'Wait a minute. Jack when you stopped in the forest, is it possible you saw the same thing?' Daniel asked Jack as he remembered how the general stopped telling him he saw something.

'I don't know Daniel. I'm not sure even what I saw.' Jack answered honestly but a little worried and that he wanted to hide as much as he could.

'So you tell us there are alien creatures in Colorado?' Cameron asked hardly believing what he just said was really true.

'We cannot rule out the possibility.' Teal'c answered.

'Ok. Until we know nothing for sure I suggest we leave this problem. If there really is something out there, we will know about it. Until then, let's not worry about something that is not a hundred percent sure it's there.' Sam explained as long as possible.

She did that a lot.

'Sam's right. Probably it was nothing to worry about.'

Daniel didn't sound as certain as he wanted to, but even if he did, there was a question in all of their heads. What if it was?

oOo

The afternoon passed quickly as they talked in the house. Everyone was happy to put work aside for some time and enjoy life beyond Cheyenne Mountain. Even Teal'c loosened up more than he used to. They didn't even notice as the sunshine provided brightness started to fade and dusk approached, only when it was fully dark.

'Wow, I haven't had such a good afternoon in a very long time.' Sam said when there was nothing at the moment to talk about.

'Same here,' Cameron concurred.

They stayed quiet, and listened as the winter wind blew outside. Its sound was quite relaxing.

'So, anybody hungry?' Jack suddenly asked, ending the moment in his usual, Jack-style.

'I'm starving.' Vala was the first to reply.

'Good idea. It's already eight o'clock.' Daniel agreed after checking the time on his watch.

Jack nodded and asked Daniel to help him prepare dinner and the two of them left for the kitchen.

'Oh, I forget. I prepared something myself before we came. I just left it in the car. A moment and I'll get it.' Sam jumped up from the couch and headed for the door.

Jack watched Sam left carefully not to let her see him. Daniel smiled next to him without looking at him. He knew Jack too well to know he was looking at her. He wanted to force Jack to do something but he figured it wouldn't do much good.

'Whatcha smiling at?' Jack asked suspiciously when he turned back to the making-in-progress dinner.

'Nothin'. Daniel answered briefly. Jack let it go and they continued slicing the beef in front of him.

oOo

It really was cold outside, Sam admitted. She didn't take a coat or anything with her knowing she'd only be out there until she took the biscuits. She crossed her arms in front of her chest trying to keep her warm, which her only blue dress didn't provide. She hurried to Cameron's car and opened the trunk. They all took their weapons, just in case so Sam had to search for her little box among the guns, P-90s and Teal'c's staff weapon.

She finally found the box but when she reached out for it she heard a noise coming from her right. Sam stopped moving and slowly looked in the direction the strange noise came from. Nothing. The forest was as quiet as ever. No moving, no sounds. She convinced herself she was probably hallucinating and turned back to the car to take the biscuits. She closed the trunk lit and was about to go back to the house when she saw it.

Approximately four feet tall, just as Teal'c said. The body was like a wolf only larger and more muscular. She could see its head perfectly in the dark but she could tell that it wasn't an animal you could find on Earth.  
Sam breathed heavily and tried to stay as calm as possible. The creature took a step towards her. She could hear it growl. It took another step and it was about only ten or so feet from her now.

Okay, Sam, if you just stand here, you'll be her dinner, she told herself.

Sam dropped the box in the snow and as quickly as she could she reopened the trunk lit and took the first P-90 she saw. As she expected, the animal, or whatever it was took her sudden movements as an attack. It roared loudly with a thrilling extraterrestrial sound and quickly moving towards Sam.

She could see from the corner of her eye as the door of the house flung open and two people appeared on porch. She could tell who they were but she just had bigger problems at the moment. She took a full clip from the trunk and clicked it into its place. The creature was only a couple of feet away from her and it was preparing to jump on her.

Sam pointed the P-90 at it and fired. She could almost hear her heart racing under the sound of the P-90, she was so scared.

The creature fell on the snow and Sam stopped firing. She still breathed heavily but somewhat relieved that she wasn't in immediate danger. She sent half the clip into the creature; it was the least for it to collapse. She lowered her gun and took a look at the creature. Had she fired one moment later and it would have landed straight on her. She tried to identify it with any other alien creature they had encountered before but she proved unsuccessful.

Suddenly the creature left its head and roared just like it did before. It so caught Sam by surprise she had to take a few steps back but she wanted to do it so quickly she fell out of balance and fell in the snow right in front of the creature. It stood up as if there weren't a couple dozen bullets inside its flesh.

'Damn it,' Sam let it out and fired again at the creature.

It probably didn't expect this kind of resistance so it gave up attacking and ran back into the woods. When it had fully disappeared Sam stood up and leaned against the car to get herself together.

'What the hell was that?' Jack cried out behind her and it made her jump. She didn't see or hear him arriving there. She turned back and saw Jack and Teal'c standing there both with weapons in hand; Jack with a P-90, Teal'c with his staff weapon.

'Colonel Carter, are you hurt?' Teal'c asked Sam.

'Yeah, I'm fine,' she replied. She lied. She wasn't fine, she was scared to death but she didn't want to reveal it to the others. She wanted to be strong.

'What the hell was that?' O'Neill repeated his question, only this time a bit quieter.

'I've no idea, sir.' Sam answered honestly. 'But I sent almost a full clip and it still ran away as if it was water I shot it with.'

'That was ugly.' Jack said pressing the last word. It really was.

'It was the same creature I've seen before from the house.' Teal'c told them after he identified the two creatures with each other.

'It was the same, or it was like the one you've seen?' Jack asked apprehensively. He wasn't fond of thinking there was more than one of that thing out there. Though there was a possibility.

Neither Teal'c nor Sam answered that question.

'Let's not worry about that. It's gone. We should go back to the house.' Sam finally said and picked up the biscuit-box from the snow.

'It's gone for now. But what if it comes back?' Jack asked still concerned.

'I don't know, sir. We'll find something out.' Sam told him trying to reassure not just Jack, but all three of them.

'Come, let's go.' Jack told Sam and put his free arm around her shoulders to provide her warmth. And to comfort her.

Sam didn't show, but Jack's caring felt good. She moved close to him and they walked back to the house.

oOo

'I so told you we were going to need weapons,' Cameron said angrily when Sam finished telling what had happened outside.

'It didn't seem to have been too effective. That thing ran away like it was nothing.' Jack replied.

'Next time we're going to try zatting it. Or shoot it with Teal'c's staff weapon.' Vala suggested though she wasn't sure whether those would work or not.

'Let's hope there won't be a next time.' Cameron said quietly. He was looking at the carpet in front of him.

'Cam, we need to find that thing before it does any harm to others.' Sam told him. Cameron knew exactly she was going to say that, and he also knew that would be the right thing to do.

'As much as I hate to admit, Carter's right. We have to stop those things.'

'But how, Jack? I'm sure if we can even find it.' Daniel said wearily.

'Ok. You know what? We're gonna deal with this tomorrow. Now let's have dinner.' Jack told the others hoping they would have no objections.

'But…' Sam started but Jack immediately cut her short.

'No buts. Tomorrow, Carter.'

'Yes, sir.' She complied finally.

O'Neill nodded and walked to the dining table. The others followed him quietly.

They didn't talk while they were eating. Everybody was thinking about the last half hour. They were all worried not just because of the creature but for each other as well. They didn't want anything to happen to the other.

'That thing really screwed up everything, huh?' Jack broke the uncomfortable and depressing silence. He wanted to start a conversation but found that none of the others were in the mood.

'Alright.' He said and got back to his meal.

oOo

When they finished Vala helped washing the dishes while Sam went to take a shower. Cameron, Teal'c and Daniel were sitting in the living room, which had lost its magic by then.

'I remember the last time we were here. The situation was dangerously similar to this one.' Cameron said and drank from his beer.

'Only then we could kill those with our guns.' Daniel added. He was in the same mood as Cameron.

'Indeed.'

Jack and Vala joined the others meanwhile another wave of silence descended on the room.

'I'm next to shower.' Cameron suddenly said. He was trying to conjure lighter mood among them. It seemed to do the trick.

'Oh, please. I was gonna say the exact same thing.' O'Neill said disappointedly but he was exaggerating a bit. He wasn't too sad about it.

'I'm after Cameron.' Vala reserved the third round to the bathroom.

Jack was opening his mouth to book the fourth for himself but Daniel and Teal'c were quicker.

'Third. Fourth,' said first Daniel then Teal'c.

'Fine.' Jack acquiesced. He folded his arms in front of his chest and leaned back on the couch.

'Oh, Jack. Where are we going to sleep?' Daniel asked curiously.

'You, Daniel, on the floor. Or if you don't like that, you can use the porch,' came the sarcastic answer.

'What did I get that for?'

'Don't you think I've prepared enough beds for y'all?' Jack asked, showing some huffiness.

'Well, if I remember well, there is only one bed in your house and this couch.' Daniel said pointing at the couch Jack and Vala were sitting on.

'Yes, but I took precautions and I got some folding beds.'

'Oh, that's kind of you.'

'See?' Jack was hoping Daniel was satisfied with the service. 'Two beds can be set here in the living room, two others I set in the guest room.'

'That's fine.' Cameron added.

Sam returned from the bathroom wearing her favorite light green nightgown.

'My turn!' Cameron jumped out of the chair immediately and left the way Sam came from.

Sam sat down into the chair Cameron was previously sitting in.

'This feels better.' Sam said.

'I bet. So, Carter, where you wanna sleep?' Jack asked and showed her the possibilities.

'I think I'll take the guest room with Vala.' Sam answered after a moment of thinking. 'That's good, right? And the boys can sleep out here.'

Nobody had any objections. After Cameron had returned Vala took her turn, following by Daniel and Teal'c.

Teal'c took the shortest time to shower and returned after five minutes.

'That was quick.' Jack told him, surprised. 'Well, I think I won't be returning here as much as to my bedroom. 'Night y'all.'

''Night, sir.' Sam was the first to respond but then came four other good nights.  
Jack spent a lot more time in the shower than he thought. He was thinking about a lot of things and didn't notice how much time had spent. He took a bathrobe and twisted it around his waist. He was on his way out of the bathroom when he saw something on the dresser next to the door. He walked there and lifted the blue dress that was lying there. He smiled as he thought of Sam.

'Really nice.' Jack said, put the dress back on the dresser and left the bathroom.


	3. Time for a Hunt

**Chapter 3**

Jack ran as fast as he could. The trees of the forest seemed to be the same and it was hard to find the right way. He heard Goa'uld death gliders flying above the trees randomly shooting the ground with their weapons. He felt tired but knew if he stopped he would certainly be killed by the Jaffa chasing them. An orange blast hit the ground only a few feet from him and it knocked him off his feet. The clearing couldn't have been far away. Telling himself he was going to make it Jack got himself together and continued running. He couldn't hear the Jaffa's voice behind him anymore but he was sure they were there. Once they made it the clearing, they dial home and leave this evil planet.

Beyond the trees in front of him he finally saw the clearing. That gave him more hope and strength. As he left the tree line he found himself looking at the stargate. They might have made it this far but the hardest part was still ahead.

Jack looked back to wait up the rest of his team but they didn't come. They were right behind me, he told himself. A glider swept above his head so close that he had to throw him on the ground to avoid it hitting him.

He couldn't stay much longer in that open field with no places to hide. But none of the other three appeared among the trees. Nor did Jaffa. They should have reached the clearing by then. Something must have happened. We don't leave anyone behind, the motto of SGC echoed in his head.

There was no time for thinking. Jack jumped up and headed back into the woods for his friends. Just as he took a step he heard a loud noise behind him and he knew without checking that a death glider blast hit the very spot he was laying at five seconds ago. Without turning back, Jack disappeared among the trees.

He listened carefully but could hardly separate the mixture of noises around him. Noises of the gliders flying around, blasts hitting the ground in every direction and his heavy breathing, these all fused into one huge chaos.

'Carter! Daniel! Teal'c!' He called for every member of his team but he received no response. 'Dammit!'

Jack wiped aside a bunch of twigs that were crossing his way as he ran aimlessly hoping he would find his friends. He suddenly heard Jaffa cries from his left. Come on, he told himself. The Jaffa voices grew louder and that urged Jack to pick up his pace. He looked back over his shoulders but couldn't see the source of the voices.

He took two more steps and suddenly found himself on the same clearing he'd come from. He stopped and looked around. The stargate was in its place, everything was the same, only now the clearing wasn't empty. Jack could see Daniel, Teal'c and Sam kneeling in the middle of the field with a dozen Jaffa surrounding them pointing their staff weapons at their prisoners.

He had to save them. Jack started to run towards his team but as he moved the weapons charged and as he took his second step the Jaffa fired and the three dead members of SG-1 fell on the ground.

'No!' Jack cried but it was too late. He could feel as the tip of another staff weapon touched the middle of his back. Before he could turn around he felt the sharp pain in his body as the blast left the weapon.

oOo

Jack O'Neill suddenly sat up in his bad. He was breathing heavily and he could feel as sweat streamed down on his forehead, into his eyes. His eyes burned from the sweat so he lifted his hand to his eyes and rubbed them until they were clear. He checked the clock on the nightstand next to him. According to the red glowing numbers it was 3:15 AM. Jack figured he wouldn't be able to fall back asleep so he got out of bed and headed for the bathroom. He washed his face with cold water to end his half-asleep, half-awake state. Once he was fully awake he headed for the kitchen to get something to drink. He opened the fridge and took out a bottle of cold beer. Jack closed the door of the fridge and headed back to his room when he noticed something. In the living, in front of the huge glass windows Sam was standing watching the darkness outside the house.

Jack put down his beer on the dining table and walked to Sam careful not to wake the other guys sleeping around them.

'Can't sleep?' Jack asked when he was standing right beside Sam.

She obviously didn't expect anyone because his sudden voice gave her a jump but when she saw it was Jack she relaxed.

'No, sir. You?'

'Bad dreams.' Jack told her quietly.

Jack saw Sam was holding something in her hands and when she lifted one of them to her mouth he realized they were the macaroons she had baked.

'You mind if I have one?' Jack asked her pointing his finger at the macaroons.

'Sure.' Sam answered and gave him one.

Jack noticed Sam hadn't looked at him the whole time they were talking. He wouldn't force it, he just found it odd. It wasn't too long until he found out why. As the moon lightly lit the room he could see Sam's eyes were wet. He definitely had been crying.

'What's on your mind?' Jack asked not really sure how to approach her.

'These macaroons don't taste as good as they should.' Sam said still staring out the window. Jack saw she didn't want to tell him what was going on but he knew it would be better for her to talk about it with someone. And he would gladly listen.

'Carter, look at me,' he told her and touched her chin turning her head towards him.

She first tried to resist but knew there would be no use so she looked straight into the general's dark eyes. He reached out and gently wiped a teardrop from her face. 'What's up?' He asked softly.

His tone sounded unfamiliar even to himself.

'I was thinking about my dad.' Sam responded.

'He was a good man, Carter. I'm sure he gained the best place up there.' Jack said commiserating.

For a moment they both stayed silent. Jack could see new teardrops appearing in Sam's eyes. 'Come 'ere.'

Sam moved closer to Jack who again laid his arm over her shoulder keeping her next to him. Sam folded her arms in front of her chest and laid her head back, resting it on Jack's shoulder.

'I miss him so much, Jack.' She sighed, fighting her tears and crying.

'I know.' He responded, slowly caressing her arm. 'I know.'

Sam nestled up to Jack as much as she could. She felt safe in next to him. The unexplainable feeling she felt for Jack made her want to be close to him. The feeling that was beyond friendship, the feeling that was something else.  
None of them could tell how long they had been standing there. The view they could see outside hadn't changed, it was still dark.

'I think I'll go try to sleep.' Sam finally broke the silence.

'Fine.' Jack responded and released Sam.

They walked towards their rooms then as they first reached Jack's room he went in.

'Sir,' he could hear Sam's weak voice from the doorway. He turned back and waited for whatever she wanted to say. 'Nothing.' She finally told him. ''Night, sir.'

''Night, Carter.' Jack closed the door behind him and walked to his bed when he heard the same loud roar he had heard when that creature attacked Sam. Only now it came from much closer than last time. He quickly reopened the door and hurried to the living room.

The noise had awakened everyone and they were standing beside their beds watching and listening carefully.

'You all heard that?' Vala asked as soon as she and Sam appeared in the room.

'It was hard not to.' Daniel answered still a little sleepy but obviously his sarcasm had fully awakened.

A second roar followed the first one, this time from the opposite direction but still close.

'It appears to be circling the house.' Teal'c said. He didn't need too much time to wake up.

'I hate when they wake me up.' Cameron said, sounding upset. 'It's time for a hunt.'

oOo

Cameron walked to the drawer next to the entrance door and took one of the P-90s. He loaded it and headed for the door.

'Cam, the last time we tried to kill that thing with a P-90, it didn't work.' Sam told his friend.

'That's why you are gonna get the zats while I and Jack cover you.' Cameron explained his plan to the others.

They heard a blunt thud coming from the direction of the guest room. They all knew what that meant.

'We better get moving.' Jack said and followed Cameron. Teal'c took his staff weapon and joined them.

The door of the house suddenly opened and the three armed men stepped outside the house. Jack swept the area in front the house, Cameron the left side, Teal'c the right.

'Clear.' Jack said after he was sure the creature wasn't there.

Daniel, Vala and Sam came out of the house and they ran towards the car. Their movement must have caught the attention of the creature because with another loud and frightening roar it attacked.

'Here!' Cameron shouted as he saw the shadow moving in front of him. Jack and Teal'c both turned in Cameron's direction and fired at the moving target. They managed to slow it down enough for the others to get the zats. The P-90 bullets also pissed it off because it gave up going after the girls and Daniel and rather turned to the men firing at it. Teal'c's staff weapon proved to be ineffective too. It just made the creature become angrier. Cameron's clip become empty and Jack also stopped firing because he knew there was no use. The creature approached quickly and Jack was about to shout fallback when an electric wave shook its body. It stopped and turned towards the source of the attack. Daniel was walking towards them followed by Sam and Vala. Among other circumstances Jack would have smile at the two women walking in nightgowns with weapons in their hands but this time was different.

'Shoot it!' Jack ordered when he saw that the creature was still standing.

Daniel fired the zat. The first shot staggered the monster but didn't stop him. As it took another vague step forward Daniel fired his zat again followed by Sam and Vala. The three shots seemed to be effective as the monster roared in pain then fell on the ground.

They waited a minute to become sure it was dead then they moved closer to it. It was bleeding from several wounds but it wasn't the loss of blood that had killed it.

'This is what those get who wake me up.' Cameron said and kicked the dead body lying in front of him.

'Son of a bitch.' Jack expressed his opinion and sent another three bullets into the monster.

Everybody took a step back in surprise. They all looked at Jack, waiting some explanation.

'Just to be sure.' Jack simply said.

'We should go back to sleep. If that's even possible after this.' Sam suggested and nobody objected.

'I will take the body into the forest.' Teal'c told the others.

'Right. Be careful, though.' Cameron told Teal'c and he went into the house.

Jack patted Teal'c's shoulder and followed Cameron.

oOo

When Teal'c returned everyone walked to their beds attempting to sleep through the rest of the night. Jack lay back on his bed and stared at the ceiling. He replayed the events of the last ten minutes.

'Unbelievable.' He muttered and checked the clock beside him. 3:53 AM. He closed his eyes and tried to empty his mind so that he could fall asleep. Sleep came but now Jack didn't have a nightmare. He dreamed of Sam.

oOo

Daniel was sitting on the edge of his bed, unable to sleep. He could snap the monster out of his mind. He was just looking at the Christmas tree that was standing in the corner of the room. He heard Cameron move in his bed and turned towards him. He met the eyes of the colonel.

'Try to sleep, Jackson. You need to rest.'

'Yeah. Probably.' Daniel answered pokily.

'C'mon. It's 4 in the morning. What could you possibly do for the rest of the night?'

Daniel knew Cameron was right. He needed sleep. 'Fine.' He finally said and lay down on his bed.

'That's it, Jackson.' Cameron said and turned on his side with his back to Daniel.

'That's it.' Daniel repeated but he was not thinking about him. He was thinking about the dead creature lying somewhere in the forest. He closed his eyes and slowly drifted away into the world of dreams.

oOo

'So what about Daniel?' Sam asked Vala, willing to continue their previous conversation.

They were both lying in their beds staring at the ceiling. They could tell from each other's breathing that none of them were asleep.

'I thought we were done with that.' Vala answered after some time of thinking.

'No. You were done with that. I am still curious.'

Vala didn't want to answer. She was tired.

'He's a nice guy. Handsome, smart, kind. He's a good friend.' Vala finally told her roommate.

'Yeah. Friend. I know what you're saying.'

Vala didn't reply and Sam seemed to be out of questions.

'Goodnight, Sam.'

'You too.' Sam replied and closed her eyes hoping that she would fall quickly asleep.

She remembered the time she'd spent on the Prometheus, alone in that energy field. She remembered what Jack had told her. She could hear his voice echoing in her head.

_I will always be there for you. No matter what. Believe me.  
_

Sam believed him. She wanted to believe he will always be there. She needed him.

~TBC


	4. Dreams and Revelations

Um, I know I'm late with the next chapter, I was just making an SG-1 music video, so that pretty much took my time. But now I'm here with chapter 4.  
Oh, and by the way, my first language is not English so if you discover any mistakes, please just forgive me. :)

* * *

**Chapter 4**

The next time Daniel woke up was not because some alien beasts cry but because he felt the morning sun tickling his back with its rays. He slowly opened his eyes, as he rolled to his back.

Daniel sat up and trussed him with his arms behind him. Most days he didn't have the time to relax, he would have to quickly prepare himself and head to the SGC.

He couldn't help but let out a huge yawn. He checked Cameron but he was still sleeping. On the contrary, as he looked at his other friend he saw Teal'c had already woken up and was standing before the glass, watching silently the forest.

'Hi, Teal'c.' Daniel greeted the Jaffa and even he became surprised hearing his unusually weak and tired voice.

'Daniel Jackson.' Teal'c slowly bowed his head.

'How long have you been awake?'

'Not too long.' Teal'c answered shortly.

'I see.' Daniel got out of the bed and stretched himself.

'It seems Cameron Mitchell was most tired yesterday.' Teal'c pointed at Cameron who seemed to be still sleeping.

The moment he finished Cam opened his eyes and sat up so quickly as if he'd been perfectly awake. 'I was but you too have ruined my sleep.' He uttered angrily.

'Well, I'm gonna shave.' Daniel stated and left the other two in the living room.

oOo

Sam hardly believed that what she did last night was real. She must have been extremely exhausted to let Jack that close to herself. She shouldn't have done that but it was too late to change her mind. Though she felt more relaxed with him than she had felt in a very long time, she knew that could easily ruin everything between them. If it was up to her it wouldn't but she was fully aware of the regulations and she wasn't even sure what Jack felt. This holiday would have been a perfect opportunity to learn more of each other's feelings but Sam was not sure it would be the right thing to do. For ten long years she could deal with her feelings ok and now as they reached the surface again she wasn't sure she could hold them back.

If you want to be a good soldier you have to put your personal feelings aside. She knew that. She observed the rules as she should. But Sam also knew she couldn't hide her feelings anymore. The more she thought about it the stronger those feelings became. Sam finally came to a decision. Ten years is a long time to run from the truth, it was time to face it.

oOo

'Hi, roommate.' Vala greeted Sam as fresh as ever. Obviously she didn't need too much time to wipe tiredness and sleepiness away.

'Hi.' Sam tried to sound as positive as she could.

'Do you think I should date Daniel?'

Sam almost fell off the bed as she heard Vala's question. Her sound wasn't more serious then usually but Sam knew she wasn't joking. 'What?' She asked confused.

Sam had been forcing this topic a lot lately but Vala seemed to have been avoiding it every time. Now that she came up with it was a little strange but in a good way.

'Daniel and I. You know I had this strange dream the night and…' she paused for a second. 'Well, I think I strongly attracted to him.'

Sam was still in shock so she had to regain calmness to answer. 'That's good. Isn't that what I've been talking about lately?'

'Yes and I don't know. It just hit me during my sleep.'

Sam had her own problem dealing with her feelings but she couldn't just leave Vala like that, not that she was the one to first come up with it.  
They both sat up in their beds and faced each other. Vala continued. 'This holiday would be a perfect opportunity to try this thing.'

'Yeah, I've been thinking of that too.'

Vala knew what Sam was talking about. 'So it's time to stop thinking and start acting.' She seemed to be quite excited and happy about the whole thing.

If only it were that easy, Sam thought. 'Yeah.' She finally answered.

Vala only nodded and headed out of the room.

oOo

Jack was sitting in his bed with his back to the wall for only god knows how long. He was just staring at the wall in front of him. The dream he had was too strange for him to just let go. He didn't usually have dreams like that. It might have been a sign; the only problem was that Jack didn't believe in such things.

He knew everyone else knew around him what he felt for Sam but he didn't have the luxury to show them. Or did he? While they were on SG-1 he was sure it would have ruined everything but now that they worked quite far from each other it might not be such a huge problem. Last night the time they spent together, watching the night sky, standing in front of the window in each other's arms left good feelings in Jack's heart.

Slowly he could hear the others' voices in the house and he decided it was time to get out of bed.

oOo

When they met in the living room everyone was fresh and ready for the day. The weather was just as fine as it was the day before but their mood seemed to have languished since their incident with that mysterious alien beast.

They were sitting around the dining table, looking at the plates in front of them, lost in their thought. Teal'c was the only one who was staring at the window but they couldn't tell whether he was thinking of something or not.

'So, how'd you sleep?' Cameron asked looking daggers at Daniel.

'Quite fine, compared to the circumstances.' Sam was the first to answer. She was the other who wasn't looking at her plate. Her eyes were hooked up on O'Neill who was preparing breakfast with his back to them so he couldn't see.

None of the others seemed to hear Cameron's question so he didn't wait for an answer much longer. 'Fine.'

'What?' Daniel asked as he noticed Vala staring at him.

She didn't take her eyes off him. 'Nothing.'

Daniel shifted to confused from surprised. 'What are you looking at, then?'

'You look nice.' Vala responded after a moment of hesitation.

Everyone lifted their heads as they heard Vala. Even Jack turned back at them. Vala felt uncomfortable having everyone looking at her.

'What? He does, doesn't he?' She only seemed to make the situation more awkward so she kept her mouth shut and looked back at the table in front of her.

As her eyes became unavailable all eyes shifted to Daniel.

'What?' He asked again, this time pressing the word more.

No answer came; it was O'Neill who saved the embarrassment for Daniel. 'Here comes breakfast.'  
They started eating without a word.

'So,' Daniel started but waited with the rest until he had swallowed the piece he was chewing. 'Any ideas what that thing might have been?' He asked and bowed his head in the direction where Teal'c had carried the beast last night.

Sam was grateful someone came up with a matter she was eager to discuss.

'I have no idea. It wasn't anything I've seen before. Maybe if I took a better look at it I could create some theories but it is far from any alien we've encountered.' Everyone listened carefully until she finished.

'After we've finished, it's all yours.' Jack said smiling at Sam.

She smiled back though she got the message.

'It is also unknown where it has come from.' Teal'c stated.

'That may be even more exciting that what it is.' Daniel added. 'If one managed to get here maybe more did.'

'If it came on its own.' Jack said suspiciously.

'What do you mean?' Sam asked.

'I don't know. I think it's not a coincidence that that thing showed up when you came here.'

That seemed to make sense but nobody wanted to believe someone sent that beat on purpose to kill them, though it wouldn't be the first time for them to be on someone's dead list.

'Makes sense.' Cameron agreed with Jack, while finishing his omelet.

'I suggest we find out.' Vala told the others. She was still excited even for her.

'And I suggest we don't. Until there are no more of those animals, I think we're good.' Jack disagreed in his usual style. 'It's enough to check the dead one out. No need to get carried away.'

Nobody could come up with other acceptable reasons so they just quietly agreed. Sam finished her food quickly with hope that she could study the creature faster. Vala took the role of the kitchen-maid and cleaned the plates after they had finished.  
Sam was getting ready for the dead monster analysis. Though they didn't hope for more of the monster's living friends Sam took a P-90, just in case. Accompanied by Cameron and Teal'c she left the house. Teal'c led the way since he was the only one who knew where he had taken the body. When he stopped claiming they had reached the spot Sam and Cameron could both discover a confused and worried expression on Teal'c's face.

'What is it?' Cameron asked.

'This is the place I have taken the body.' Teal'c answered looking around, still concerned.

'So?'

'It is not here,' the Jaffa answered simply.

Sam was confused. 'What do you mean it's not here?'

'Somebody must have taken it.' Cameron guessed.

'Or something.' Sam corrected and she laid her hand on the P-90.

They exchanged worried looks before Teal'c said. 'We should go back to the house and inform the others.'

'Agreed. If that thing is still out there, we have no time to waste.' Sam agreed and they headed back to the house.

oOo

'What do you mean it's gone?' Jack asked angrily, grimacing as he said the word 'gone'.

They were sitting at the dining table as Sam explained Jack, Daniel and Vala what the situation was.

'It's not there, sir. We've checked the nearby area and there's no sign of it.' Sam explained.

'So it's alive?' Vala joined the conversation.

'If it is, than we will have a pretty damn hard time killing it.' Jack voiced everyone's thoughts.

'I do not think it is alive. We discovered footsteps; similar to the dead creature's, leading into the forest. There was also a sign that the dead one had been dragged away by another one.' Teal'c informed the others. He didn't seem to be more worried than any other time. His face was still solemn.

'O-kay.' Jack said and pulled his eyebrows, waiting for someone to say something smart.

'There were at least two of them. That could mean there are more. And it seems they operate only at night.' Daniel concluded their situation.

'But I've seen one of those in the forest when Daniel and I were getting the tree.' Jack discovered the paradox.

'And I have seen one in daylight.' Teal'c added.

'But they didn't attack. If what you saw was really one of those, it could have easily attacked us in the forest. But it didn't.' Daniel confirmed his theory.

'Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't this mean that if we want to kill them, we will have to do it at night?' Cameron looked at Sam waiting affirmation from her.

She didn't want to say it but in the end she did. 'Yes.'

Cameron dropped his head on his folded arms in front of him.

'Wait. Why would we have to hunt them at night? Teal'c and O'Neill just said they have seen them during the day. Why couldn't we find them then?' Vala thought it over.

'I doubt they would show. They obviously like darkness. In my opinion if we went in the forest let's say now, they would hide from us and we wouldn't be able to find them.' Daniel explained again. He seemed to understand how the beasts worked.

'But we could try finding them while the sun's up.' Cameron suggested, lifting his head.

'We could, I'm just saying that if we do, and don't find them, we can come back, knowing it was useless. But if we go at night we have a better chance finding them and we wouldn't have to take two turns.'

It appeared Daniel had convinced the others, no matter how much they didn't like the idea of going into the forest at night.

'What do you say, sir?' Sam asked Jack.

He was thinking for a moment, considering their chances. 'We go at night.' Jack finally decided.

Nobody liked the idea but they knew that was their best chance.

'Until then, let's enjoy our time.' Daniel said and stood up from the table.

The others did so too and followed Daniel to the living room. They were waiting for any suggestions what they should do and it was Jack who finally had an idea. 'Anybody like Matrix?

~TBC


	5. Second Contact

Sorry I'm late with this chapter I was just finishing SGA and I also have a little problem since this story seems to be a lot shorter than I first thought so I'll have to figure that one out too. I still hope you'll like this.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

'You have any idea how cool it would be to fly like that?' Cameron asked, investing himself in the role of Neo.

The final scene of the movie didn't seem to excite anyone in the room as much as it excited Cameron. Everybody looked at him like he said something totally stupid.

'What? I like it.' Cameron explained when he saw nobody felt the same way.

'Well, I'm sure McKay could easily write a program for you if you wanted.' Sam said, keeping hope in her friend.

'Okay, let's just drop this.' Mitchell knew it wouldn't do much good to go on with the subject.

'No matter how many times I watch this movie, I still don't understand a single word of that scientific,' Jack paused trying to find the right word. 'Science stuff.'

He was sitting in his usual place on the couch with Sam next to him. Jack gave up concentrating on the movie halfway and started thinking of what Daniel told him. In one thing Jack was sure Daniel was right. He loved Sam. As hard as it was to admit, but he did. For the seven years they had been one team, he was sure he couldn't let his personal feelings influence his decisions. Now it probably wouldn't matter but what if it was too late already? Or if this Christmas holiday was his last chance to admit his feelings? Should he stake everything on one card?

Jack's train of thought was interrupted by Daniel.

'It's soon getting dark. I think we should get prepared. God knows what's waiting for us out there.'

'Well, go on.' Jack gave Daniel a green light. He wasn't sure if he still wanted to fight. Being a general saved him a lot of energy, since he didn't have to go on missions and that made him quite comfortable. He wasn't sure he was ready.

Slowly all of them got up and started to get themselves ready. Sam headed for her room to find clothes that were more suitable for fighting than the light dress she was wearing. After the movie when she mentioned Rodney McKay she remembered the time she had spent on Atlantis. She couldn't remember but good things about those months. Still when she had been alone her thoughts always ended up on Jack and how much she had missed him. So close to each other yet so far. She knew it would have only taken a couple of seconds to get back to him but still, she was in another galaxy. It was needless to think about times gone but she couldn't help herself. She was happier than ever to be back to Earth but a part of her was still on Atlantis.

'We're good to go, Sam. If you'd like to join us, we're waiting here.' She heard Jack's voice from the corridor leading to the front door.

'Just a moment, sir.' She answered and picked her P-90 up from her bed.

Once she joined the others Jack told them the plan.

'We go in two teams. Carter and Teal'c come with me; Mitchell, Vala and Teal'c will be team two. We keep in radio contact and if anyone finds anything, ask before acting. I hope we'll get this over with in maximum two hours so there will be time to sleep. Let's go.'

With that he opened the door and the six soldiers left the house. The weather was chilly outside the house and Jack noticed there was unusually thick fog around the clearing. He signaled to Cameron which way to go and he headed for the opposite direction.

'You have any idea how we are going to find those alien things?' Daniel asked Cameron when they couldn't see the other team anymore.

'No idea, Jackson. But I have a feeling that they are going to find us before we had the chance.'

'That's encouraging.'

They reached the tree line and Cameron signaled to move into the woods.

'I have a bad feeling about this.' Vala shared her thoughts.

'Hard to have any other.' Daniel relaxed her.

Cameron suddenly lifted his arm for the others to stay silent.

'What's wrong?' Vala asked after a minute of waiting but nothing happening around them.

'I heard something.' Cameron answered whispering.

They stayed silent again but couldn't hear anything suspicious. 'Let's go.'

oOo

Jack moved into the forest with Sam and Teal'c close behind him. They moved as silently as possible but the fog almost made it impossible to watch the ground in front of them so they accidently stepped on twigs that could give their position away.

'I think we should follow the tracks we've discovered before.' Sam suggested and waited for the others to answer.

'Might be a working plan.' Jack replied. 'If you know which direction those tracks are. Because I haven't a clue.'

'I remember the way.' Teal'c said and split from the rest of the group.

'Yeah, sure you do.' Jack answered feeling ashamed that he hadn't remembered that Teal'c usually knew those kinds of things.

'The fog is too thick. I barely see you in front of me.' Sam told Jack. She was the last in the line.

'Don't worry Carter, you won't get lost.' Jack assured her.

'I'm not talking about getting lost. Among these circumstances I'm having doubts that if one of those beasts show up we will be able to see it.'

'Gotta take the risk.' Jack answered being careful to not lose Teal'c.

They walked a couple more minutes and all they could hear was the sound of their steps and the light zephyr moving the leaves around them. They all felt the cold making its way through their clothes. If they had worn BDUs they would've kept out the cold better but it was no use grieving over it. They weren't prepared for something like that.

'We have arrived.' Teal'c stopped and turned to the others.

'So which way do we go now?' Sam asked.

Teal'c didn't answer for a minute; he was just studying the ground silently.

'What's up, T?'

'The tracks have disappeared, O'Neill.' Teal'c answered solemnly.

'Are you sure we're at the right place? It's easy to get lost in a forest like this.' Jack asked as he too scanned the area with no success.

'I am sure.'

'This is not good, guys.' Sam pointed out the obvious.

'What does it matter? We have the same chances. I don't think it would have made anything easier if we had found the tracks.' Jack told mostly to Teal'c, trying not to make him feel responsible.

'Maybe so. What direction should we go now?' Teal'c asked. Both Jack and Sam could tell he didn't hold himself responsible for anything.

Sam looked around but all she saw were trees and fog around her. 'Let's go that way.' She suddenly said.

'Why that?' Jack bantered.

'We could go the opposite way. I don't really mind.' She replied. Jack still didn't disappoint her in these situations. She was always ready for such questions.

'I'd prefer the other way.' Jack continued.

'Well, sir, it's up to you.'

'Let's go this way then.' O'Neill decided and led the way deeper and deeper into the forest.

oOo

'Jack, this is Daniel, do you read?'

Jack reached for his radio while watching his steps carefully. It's been about half an hour since they left the house but they didn't seem to find anything. 'Yeah, go on.'

'You found anything?' Jack heard Daniel's voice coming from the speaker.

'Nothing. First we thought we could follow the tracks left by whatever has taken the dead thing but we couldn't find them. Anything there?'

'Same here. We're hoping to find some footprint or something but in this fog I doubt we would be able to see them.' Daniel reported.

'Keep searching. O'Neill out.'

Jack released the radio and placed it on his P-90. The temperature descended a couple more degrees and it made it harder to concentrate. Sam could see her breath in front of her as she exhaled.

'Sir, it's getting really cold and if we…' Sam started but she was cut off.

'Sssh.' Jack lifted his upper arm.

They all froze and listened to the voices around them. First they didn't hear anything but then a couple of feet from them a twig's crunch broke the silence. They couldn't see anything in the direction the voice came from but Jack signaled them to form a line so Sam moved to his left and Teal'c to his right. Another twig broke this time behind them. They turned around as one, just in time to see the large body of the beast moving quickly between the trees towards them. Sam was the first who opened fire but Jack and Teal'c joined her only milliseconds after. The monster cried out as the bullets lodged into its flesh. For a moment it stopped but with another frightening cry it attacked again.

'Move!' Jack ordered, sent another five bullets into their attacker and started to run.

All of them knew they couldn't run forever so when they thought they had gotten far enough they turned eye to eye with the beast and fired again. It cried out for the third time and slowed down a little but didn't stop. Jack and Sam ran again but Teal'c stayed and fired relentlessly.

'Teal'c!' Jack called for his friend as loud as he could but Teal'c didn't stop firing.

The beast was closing up on him fast but he must have been thinking he was able to kill it before it reached him.

'Ah, for crying out loud!' Jack lowered his weapon and run back to Teal'c. He grabbed his arm and tried to pull Teal'c with him. 'Come on, we gotta go!'

Teal'c finally admitted he had no other choice and followed O'Neill. They ran as fast as they could, carefully avoiding every tree that was in their way. The cry of the beats started to fade as they got farther away. When they didn't hear anything behind them they stopped. They took deep breaths as they checked the area behind themselves.

'Looks like it's gone.' Sam stated.

'Indeed it does.' Teal'c confirmed.

'But why?' Sam asked out of curiosity.

'I don't know. But let's not wait until it changes its mind.' Jack suggested and started walking in the opposite direction they had come from.

'We should find the others.' Sam told Jack. 'Tell them what's happened.'

Jack reached for his radio and called for Cameron.

'I'm here. What's the situation?'

'We've been attacked. We were lucky enough to get away but I don't think this was it.' Jack informed the male colonel of the team.

'We didn't find anything so far but the cold is getting disturbing. What do we do?'

Jack considered the possibilities. 'Let's search a little more. If we don't have anything in thirty minutes we go back to the house and have a rest.'

'Understood. Mitchell, out.' After Cameron's final words the radio fell silent.

'Okay, campers. Let's show some skills.' Jack strengthened his grip on the P-90 and headed forward into the thick fog, covered by the freezing cold and creepy silence of the winter night.


	6. Casualties

**Chapter 6**

The temperature must have been less than twenty degrees, Sam thought as she quietly followed Jack in the fog, totally reclining upon him. They had been walking for five minutes or so but nothing crossed their way and they couldn't hear anything that would assume the beasts were still looking for them. She knew Teal'c was right behind her but she couldn't help but look back over her shoulder to make sure everything was ok. It seemed as if the fog had thickened because Sam could barely see the back of the general in front of her and she knew she was following him from the same distance.

'Sir, can we stop for a second, I barely feel my fingers.' Sam asked.

Jack stopped and turned back to the other two following him.

'Ok. We haven't found anything in the last ten minutes anyway so a couple of minutes shouldn't hurt.'

Sam put her P-90 on the ground and sat down on a fallen branch next to the path they were following.

'These jeans don't keep the cold out as much as a BDU would.' Sam complained as she tried to warm her hand up by breathing warm air on them.

'No, but you look nicer in these.' Jack tried with a compliment.

Sam wasn't expecting something like that. She blushed and for the first time during the night she was glad that nor Jack neither Teal'c saw her face thanks to the thick fog. She could barely see her hands in front of her. She didn't know what to say so she stayed quiet.

'So Teal'c, how's your son?' Jack asked out of the blue.

'I do not know why that is important now.' Teal'c answered almost inaudibly.

'Do I have to have a reason to ask about your family?'

A short period of silence settled on the forest.

'He is fine,' came the usual length answer.

'That's good.' Jack tried to keep the conversation going, though it was pretty one sided.

'Indeed.'

'We can go if you want, sir.' Sam interrupted.

'Ok. Let's go.' Jack said and waited for Sam to get up then continued walking.

We could go on the whole night without finding anything again, Jack thought as he pushed a huge branch aside from the path. They had only met one of the beasts so far and actually it was the creature who had found them. Jack started to think that if those things didn't want them to find them they wouldn't probably be able to.

'We're not finding too much of the beast just yet.' Jack stated. 'I'll ask Mitchell if they were more successful.

The general was about to touch the radio when Daniel's worried voice suddenly exploded from the speaker.

'Jack, come in!'

'What's going on Daniel?' Jack asked immediately. He could hear the fear in the archeologist's voice.

'We've been attacked. Cameron's injured and one of those things took Vala. We need help.'

'Where are you?' Jack shouted as he geared up.

'I don't know. I'll send a signal, listen!'

Jack stopped and so did Sam and Teal'c. It took only a second until they heard a series of shots not too far to their left.

'What's going on?' Sam asked worriedly.

'They were attacked. Let's go.' Jack informed her.

They all headed in the direction. They shouldn't be that far. Jack ran as quickly as he could but before they could have reached the others they could hear the familiar cry coming exactly from in front of them. The fog blocked the view but they all knew the creature couldn't be too far from them. Jack lifted his P-90 so that he could get a better view in the not too much light the weapon's lamp provided.

'This is bad.' Sam told them as she looked around for the beast.

'Ya think?' Jack asked using his good old sarcasm.

Another cry followed the first one this time from a bit farther. Jack was ready to fire any time but it wasn't him who needed to use his weapon first. He could hear the sound of Teal'c's staff weapon followed by an orange blast disappearing in the fog. Sam and Jack pointed their weapons in the direction where the blast had disappeared and they didn't have to wait too long until the head of the deadly beast appeared in the fog heading in their direction. They fired their weapons as one and as the bullets reached their target the monster cried out in pain. The beast tried to flee when it knew it was dangerous to stay but Teal'c reacted quickly and stood in the way the monster wanted to go and fired his staff weapon sending a blast right into the face of their attacker. The dead wolf like creature fell on the ground with one final cry and then no sound left its mouth.

'One down, gods know now many more to go.' Jack said trying to ease the tension.

'Actually, sir, it's two down. We've already killed one yesterday.' Sam corrected. For the time she had been fighting the monster she had forgotten about how cold it was but after the beast moved no more she had to face the sad fact again.

'Whatever. I'm sure there's much more to go.' Jack kicked into the body lying in front of him making sure it was really dead. Once he was certain he remembered Daniel needed help and continued his way in the direction of the shots Daniel sent earlier.

As they get closer to the place they could hear as several beasts moved around them but none of them attacked and until they couldn't see them either there was no point in attacking.

'They are circling us.' Sam told the others.

'Our first priority is to find Daniel and Mitchell. These things can wait.' Jack answered but he was worried as well.

Sam passed by a tree and she spotted Cameron sitting on the ground with Daniel standing next to him.

'Over here!' She called for the others.

Soon Jack and Teal'c appeared next to her.

'How bad is it?' Jack asked Daniel nodding in the direction of Mitchell.

'I don't know. He fell during firing on those beasts and he blacked out. Now he's awake but it might be a slight concussion. I'm not a doctor.' Daniel told the situation to his CO.

'What about Vala?'

'When Cameron fell I quit firing and went to him to help. I left Vala alone. They must have taken her then.'

'Ok. There's no point in fighting now, we have to fall back.' Jack ordered.

'What? We can't leave. Not without Vala.' Daniel argued. He was worried Vala more than the others. She meant a lot to him.

'No, Daniel. We can come back later but now we don't have good chances.'

'She might be dead by now.' Daniel tried to convince Jack.

'And Mitchell might be dead if we don't go back right now.' Jack raised his voice decisively.

'Jack, we can't leave her!' Daniel shouted. 'If you don't want to help, I'll go myself.'

Daniel turned around and took a step towards the trees but Jack grabbed his arm before he could get away.

'Daniel!' Jack turned the younger man and looked him in the eye. 'There's no time to argue. This is not an option, this is an order. If you don't like it, go and get yourself killed. But we don't know where she was taken and I doubt we could follow any tracks.'

He could see in Daniel's eyes he wanted to leave and try to find Vala without thinking but he also knew Jack was right. Maybe it was his feelings that would lead him into the forest after the woman he cared about.

'Sir!' Sam called for Jack. 'We got company!'

Jack turned in her direction without releasing Daniel and saw two monsters appearing among the trees.

'Great.' He muttered and turned back to Daniel. 'We're gonna find her. I promise. But not now.'

Daniel reluctantly nodded, admitting Jack was right.

'Good.' Jack said and turned to the beast approaching them. He joined Sam and Teal'c who had already been firing at them.

One of the two beasts was defeated and fell on the ground helplessly. Before they could be pleased two other appeared from the fog replacing their fallen mate.

'If we want to move we have to do it now, sir. They are getting more. I don't know if we can hold them for long.' Sam shouted trying to be louder than the combined sound of the P-90s and the cries of the wounded beasts.

Jack sent out a couple more bullets then kneeled down next to Cameron.

'Can you move?'

'I hope so.' He answered weakly.

Jack stood back up and turned to Daniel.

'Help Mitchell and follow us.'

Daniel nodded and helped Cameron to stand up. He put Mitchell's arm around his shoulder and wrapped his around his waist acting like a crutch. Jack was watching them and when they were ready he shouted fallback and moved away from the others, keeping firing at the monsters. The others followed him trying to keep the beasts as far from them as possible. Jack knew the forest quite well but in the fog he wasn't sure which way to go. He approximately orientated the direction of his house and headed that way. They didn't fire anymore; it would have only slowed them down. This way they could run with full power and had a better chance to get away from the hunters.

Teal'c was behind Daniel and Cameron watching their back and as he heard that the creatures got closer and closer to them he stopped, took a 180 spin and targeted the beast closest to him. He fired twice and it seemed to have slowed the beast down so he followed the others.

Jack knew they were getting closer to the clearing where the house stood but he also heard the heavy breathing of the monsters around him. He didn't stop to fire; he just hoped they would get out of the forest before the beasts reached them.

Suddenly he heard a thud from behind him and he knew something was wrong. Jack stopped and turned back to see what happened and saw Sam lying on the ground.

'Carter!'

'It's ok, sir. I just stumbled. I'm fine.' She relaxed Jack and quickly stood up.

Daniel, Mitchell and Teal'c had fallen behind since they were moving slower than Sam and Jack so the two of them had a little time to rest until they caught up.

'It's gonna be ok. We're close.' Jack told Sam while they were waiting for Daniel and the others.

'Yes, sir.'

As she said that Daniel appeared in the fog and they continued their way. By every moment the run got more and more tiring but they couldn't stop. Suddenly a grey head appeared in front of them but Jack didn't stop, he just lifted his P-90 and fired. It was enough for the beast to back away and free the path they were going.

'We better get there soon, because I can't hold on much more.' Cameron shouted sending his words to Jack.

His wish was granted and a moment later the fog disappeared and they caught themselves standing on the clearing with the small frozen pond in front of them.

Jack turned back to the others.

'Ok. Daniel, get Mitchell into the house. Carter, go with them. Teal'c and I will cover you.'

Everybody nodded letting Jack know they understood their task. Sam led the way for Daniel and Cameron while Jack and Teal'c turned back towards the forest waiting for the beasts to appear and shoot them. They didn't have to wait for long, after a minute of waiting the first wolf-like creature appeared. Neither of them hesitated to fire. Among loud cries, the beast continued approaching them, only a little slower.

'We can't hold them for too long!' Teal'c shouted.

'Come on.' Jack told him and back away from the beast following Sam and the others.

Teal'c fired one last time and followed his friend towards the house. They couldn't see but they heard as more beasts joined the first one. As Jack ran he heard the voices of their hunters fade. He looked back over his shoulder and saw that the four beasts following them had stopped. He didn't want to think about the reasons, he just had to reach the house and think later.

Sam opened the door and let Daniel and Cameron in then went back to wait for Jack and Teal'c. They were there within a minute and stopped before Sam, breathing heavily.

'What happened?' She asked when she discovered there were no animals following them.

'I don't know.' Jack answered between two breaths. 'Let's go inside.'

When they were all inside the house Sam locked the door behind her.

They went into the living room where Cameron had already lied down on his bed. He was barely conscious.

'How is he?' Sam asked when she got there.

'He's weak. He must have hit his had pretty badly. He's barely awake.' Daniel answered. He wasn't a doctor but he could tell that Cameron wasn't good.

'Jack, get a wet towel.' Daniel asked.

Jack didn't hesitate, he went into the bathroom and a minute later he returned with a white towel. Sam took it from him and placed it on Cameron's forehead. The cold cotton cooled his head and Cameron felt a little better from it, though his head ached as hell.

'You're gonna be ok.' Sam soothed Cameron.

'I hope so.' Sam could hear his weak voice.

'Have a sleep. That's gonna help.' She suggested.

Cameron slowly closed his eyes and it didn't take too long for him to fall asleep. Sam was sitting next to his chair the whole time, she only stood up when she was sure he had fallen asleep.

Teal'c, Daniel and Jack were sitting at the dining table quietly, lost in their thoughts. Sam walked to the table but didn't sit down.

'I think he's gonna be ok.' She said. 'Though I don't know how bad it is.'

They didn't answer, there was nothing to say.

Daniel seemed to be the angriest of all. He could have gone after Vala. He might have been able to save her.

'We'll find her, Daniel.' Jack told him as if he were reading his thoughts.

Daniel didn't answer; he was just staring at the table in front of him.

'We don't leave anyone behind. This isn't gonna change. Not now, not ever.'

Daniel looked at Jack. 'I really hope so, Jack.'

He then stood up and walked back to the living room.

'Why did they stop?' Sam asked Jack who first didn't know what she was talking about.

'Those creatures. They didn't follow you to the house.' Sam explained when she saw his questioning look.

'I don't know, Carter. But I don't really care right now.'

'I understand, sir.'

Jack stood up and faced the colonel. 'Let's go have some rest.'

'What about Vala?' Sam asked.

'We'll figure it out.' Jack answered but didn't know if he could keep a promise like that. He was hoping he could.

So was Sam. She smiled weakly at Jack. 'Yes, we will.'

~TBC


	7. Rescue Plan

**Chapter 7**

Daniel couldn't fall asleep that night. He was just tossing and turning in the bed, thinking of Vala. He was somewhat still angry at Jack but by then he had come to terms with his decision. He laced his fingers and put his arms under his neck, staring at the ceiling. He replayed the events of earlier that night, the moments when he looked away for a minute, a minute that was long enough to loose Vala. It happened so fast. He could hear her voice, crying for help but he just stood and didn't do anything. He made a decision to stay with Cameron until Jack, Sam and Teal'c arrived. It was hard to let Vala go but he was hoping that Jack would allow him to go after her. Maybe if he had gone after Vala she would have been there with them.

Daniel felt tired and wanted to sleep, hoping he could forget about the whole thing for a couple of hours. He didn't know when but finally his brain gave up the fight and he slipped away into the land of dreams.

oOo

Next morning the light of the yellow sun just didn't seem as beautiful as it seemed twenty-four hours before. When Jack arrived in the living room Teal'c and Cameron had been already awake, it was only Daniel who was still asleep.

Before heading for the living room, Jack stopped to check on Sam. She was still sleeping. As Jack stood, leaning against the doorpost he could tell that Sam was like an angel even when she was sleeping. He couldn't help but let a soft smile appear on his face.

Jack's eyes wandered from Sam to the other empty bed in the room. He didn't know Vala too much but he could tell that if General Landry let her join SG-1 she must have been a strong woman. At least strong enough to hold on until they found her, Jack hoped. He knew she was important to Daniel, he could simply tell by looking into his younger friend's eyes. He felt responsible for her disappearance and knew he had to do everything to save her.

Sam slowly turned around in her bed, still asleep but Jack knew she was soon going to wake up so he pushed himself off the doorpost and headed for the living room.

He wasn't too surprised to see Teal'c standing before the glass when he entered his living room. He wanted to shout 'Morning, campers!' as a happy greeting but he saw Daniel was still sleeping so he decided not to wake him. He didn't usually do that.

He was surprised by himself but let it go. He could see Cameron was already awake, sitting on the edge of his bed.

'How you feeling?' Jack asked Cameron as he headed for the fridge.

'I'll live. We should go find Vala.' He told Jack. His voice sounded weak.

'We will, but only after reinforcements have arrived.' Jack answered and walked to Cameron giving him a cold bottle of beer.

'Wanna drink something?' Jack asked looking at Teal'c.

'I am fine.' He answered without looking at him.

'He's been staring out the window since I woke up. Hasn't moved an inch.' Cameron told Jack not to take it personally. Without drinking of the beer, he just placed the bottle on the table.

'How long have you been standing there?' Jack asked Teal'c as he sat down on the couch.

'Maybe an hour. I am not certain.' Teal'c answered slowly, this time looking at O'Neill.

'Seen anything interesting?' Jack kept questioning.

'I have seen something moving in the forest, though I am unsure what it was. It could have been one of the beasts as well as a fox or a bear.'

'Bears and foxes don't' come this close to the house. At least not naturally.' Jack answered and sipped from his beer.

With a huge yawn Daniel opened his eyes and sat up on his bed, the exact same moment Sam appeared in the living room.

'I feel so bad about Vala.' Sam said as a greeting. 'We were sleeping while she's out there somewhere, probably waiting for us to do something.'

'Hey, we couldn't do anything ourselves. I'll call Landry to send reinforcements and we'll go in for Vala. We'll get her out.' Jack tried to sound as convincing as possible but he didn't know if he fully succeeded.

It was hard to talk about what had happened and none of them had the strength to do it. Maybe Jack had it but he decided it would be better not to talk about it.

'Sir, we still don't know what are those things.' Sam broke the silence after a couple of minutes.

Jack looked at her, waiting for her to continue.

'I mean, if we could somehow study one of them, we may be able to find something that could help us fight them.'

'How you wanna do that?'

'We could set up a trap.' She popped the idea.

'Ok. How do you want to do that?' Jack asked. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, he was only curious.

'I haven't figured that part out yet.'

Jack thought about it then said. 'Ok. Teal'c you help Carter capture one of whatever they are. I'll call the SGC.'

Sam nodded and walked to Teal'c to discuss their plan. Jack took the phone from the table and dialed the number of Stargate Command.

oOo

When Vala opened her eyes the first thing she felt was the stitching pain in her head. She slowly lifted her hand and touched the spot that hurt the most but as she touched her head she felt another sharp twinge. She was lying on the cold ground, with total darkness around her. She muttered something and slowly sat up which let another wave of pain flood over her body. Her sight was blurry so she couldn't make anything out of the environment around her but darkness. Vala was sitting in the dark, waiting for her sight to clear but it took longer than she first expected. Once the blurred shapes had disappeared she stood up and took a better look around the place. As far as she could tell she was in a cavern of some kind. She could see its walls not too far from her, but there was no sign of any corridor leading out of the hall. There was nothing with her and that popped the question; how did she get there? Her headache instead of subsiding just got worse. She started to feel dizzy so she walked to the nearest wall and sat down with her back against the cold rock.

She remembered as she was firing at the wolf-like beasts with Daniel and Cameron next to her. She heard Cameron shout but she didn't pay too much attention to it. She could see from the corner of her eye that Daniel lowered his weapon and went to help Cameron. She kept firing but it wasn't much use. From the direction Daniel had stood a second before a huge, grey creature jumped on her and knocked her off her feet. That must have been when she hit her head. She couldn't breathe as she hit the ground and she couldn't cry for help. She felt like her head was going to explode any minute and she barely had the strength to stay awake. She felt as sharp teeth dug into her leg giving her more pain to endure. She wanted to fight but her body just didn't obey the orders her brain gave. The fangs dug deeper in her flesh and she felt herself being pulled away. Using her final strength she cried out for help but it was too late. Everything happened so fast, she couldn't remember every detail. She couldn't remember being carried into the cavern; she had lost consciousness on the way there.

As Vala was sitting in her cell she could hear weak voices coming from the other side of the walls. As much as she could tell they were more or less human. The voices slowly started to fade until they had fully disappeared leaving Vala in full silence. Later when she could no longer hear any voice, she started to think she was only hallucinating and there were no voices in the first place.

She reached for her radio, hoping she could call for help through it but she couldn't find it in its place. That was when she discovered her P-90 had been also taken along with her zat gun.

'Great.' She muttered desolately.

She felt like losing consciousness again so she had to keep herself awake somehow. It was hard because of the cold in the cavern and the pain flooding over and over her body but she had to try.

How could she get there? Were those creatures that intelligent to put her in that cavern? Were they intelligent enough to take her weapons? If they were, they were something she had never before seen. If they weren't, that meant there was something else there too which probably meant even more danger than the wolves. That didn't mean much good.

She had no idea where she was, why she was there, and what her fate would be but she know she couldn't expect too much kindness in that place.

In the worst case scenario she was going to die. That scared her. She didn't want to leave behind this world, the places she loved, the people she loved. She didn't want to leave behind Stargate Command and SG-1. She didn't want to leave behind Daniel. It was two years ago that they first met. She could remember it as if it were yesterday. Since then they grew much closer to each other though it might not have been able to be seen from outside. And all that they built up together might crumble through a minute. She knew she couldn't try and escape without her weapons. She was in a helpless situation. She could only hope for the others to find her.

oOo

Sam and Teal'c were sitting around the coffee table, planning to catch one of the beasts. They couldn't come up with any usable idea so far but Sam felt they were close to a solution. They were thinking about C4s but those would probably kill them, no matter how strong their bodies were. Normal bullets might not be enough, only if they were shooting for a time that would be enough for the creature to flee. If they were on the base they most likely would have been able to find the necessary equipment to capture such an animal but going on a Christmas holiday the man just doesn't plan on being attacked by alien creatures that they later would want to set up a trap for.

First, Daniel was there to help them but he couldn't come up with anything useful. He didn't like it, but he just had to sit around waiting for something to happen. He went out to the front porch trying to calm him down, but he wasn't too successful.

'I'm totally out of ideas.' Sam admitted as the front door closed behind Daniel.

'We must keep thinking, Colonel Carter. There must be a way.' Teal'c heartened Sam.

'We barely have anything with us. I mean technology. I don't know what we can do with a couple of P-90s and a staff weapon.'

'And some zats.' Cameron added, lying in his bed listening to Teal'c and Sam's brainstorming.

'Doesn't make it better.' Sam replied.

'Hey, I'm just trying to help.' Cameron apologized.

Sam would have replied to that one too but Teal'c was faster.

'We cannot hunt them down, because it is unlikely that we would be able to find them.'

Sam knew there would be no point arguing with Cameron so she returned her attention to their original problem. 'That's right.'

'In that case, we have to lure one of them here.' The Jaffa explained.

'Good start.' Sam admitted. 'How do we do that?'

'Maybe we could use something as a bait.'

'We don't anything to use as bait. And even if we had, we don't know what they are after.' Sam pointed out.

'They seem to be after humans.' Teal'c said.

Sam couldn't disagree with that fact though she wasn't happy to face it. 'You may be right.'

'I would attract them here so that you will be able to shoot if with a zat'n'ktel.' Teal'c planned.

Sam thought about the plan. She didn't like the part where Teal'c would be the bait. He could see it in Sam's eyes so he assured her it would be ok.

'Are you sure?'

'I am. If this will help us to rescue Vala Mal Doran I do it.' Teal'c said bravely.

Sam smiled at his Jaffa friend's heart. He really became one of them during the years spent on Earth.

'Ok.' She said still smiling.

oOo

Daniel was watching the frozen surface of the pond as he remembered two years ago when they came here to have a short vacation. Back then he didn't think that he would ever see Vala again after their little trip on the Prometheus.

He heard the door open behind him and he turned back to see who was there. He saw Sam standing at the door, looking at him.

'We have a plan.' Sam told him.

'Oh, finally. I've been thinking here for a while but…nothing.' Daniel responded.

'Our plan isn't the best either but this is the best we could come up with.'

'So, what is it?' He asked and walked closer to the colonel.

'Teal'c will lure them here and I'll zat one of them.' Sam exposed their plan.

'Not very creative.' Daniel admitted. He was in a bad mood so he didn't quite say the words as he wanted to.

'No.' Sam agreed briefly and sent Daniel a sorry look.

'Well, let's do it then.' Daniel suggested and went into the house after Sam.

~TBC


	8. Five Hours

**Chapter 8**

Major General Hank Landry was sitting behind his table looking at the folder in front of him. There were probably important papers inside the folder but he wasn't in the mood of doing any paperwork. He wanted to be with his family the day before Christmas but work just didn't let him have that luxury. He had to face the fact that without off world teams the probability of anything happening on the base was close to zero.

He ran his hand through his gray hair, leaning back in his chair. He closed his eyes and tried to find anything to do but the only option he could find was the folder laying on his desk. Landry opened his eyes and looked at the clock on the wall. It read 10:37.

'Oh, please.' He murmured. It was eight o'clock when he arrived and the two and half hours that had passed since then seemed to him like forever. Time passes slow when you are bored.

He let out an exasperated sigh and pulled his chair closer to the desk. On the folder huge red letters warned him that the files inside were classified IOA files. Fortunately he had the highest clearance so it wasn't too hard for him to open the folder. He ran through the papers first but couldn't find anything interesting among them.

It doesn't matter if I like them or not, I'm going to have to read them anyway, Landry thought to him and turned to the first file. He checked the clock again and started reading.

He didn't find much joy reading the files and started to get more and more sleepy page after page. Those things must have been important if they were sent to him to deal with but it just wasn't the right time.

Landry started to feel hungry and he remembered he hadn't eaten anything since he left home. He wasn't worried about leaving his office since he knew nothing was going happen while he was gone.

He decided he could return to the files after eating so he stood up, heading for the cafeteria when the phone on his table started to ring. General Landry was quite surprised since he wasn't expecting anyone to call.

'Landry.' He answered the phone.

'This is O'Neill. I wasn't sure I'd find you there.' The familiar voice said.

Landry could hear in Jack's voice that he wasn't quite in a happy mood and he started to worry. There weren't too many people who were not happy at Christmas, much less who would call the Air Force. There must have been a reason why Jack did that.

'Well, I have to stay here for the day so I'm very available. What can I help you with, Jack?'

'There's a bit of a problem here.' Jack told him.

Landry now could definitely hear the worry in Jack's voice so he thought it would be better to take it seriously.

'What kind of problem?'

'We got together with SG-1 here at my place to have a little relaxation. Only we didn't have too much time to relax because we've been attacked.'

Jack would have continued if Landry didn't cut him off.

'Attacked? What are you talking about?'

'Some sort of alien wolf-like creatures appeared in the forest. We don't know what they are, we don't know where they had come from, and we don't know a damn thing about them. Only that they are a difficult to kill.' Jack explained quickly almost rumbling. That wasn't Jack-like.

'What? How's that possible?' First Landry didn't fully believed Jack though he had seen a lot of things during his life.

'I don't know. They just appeared when the guys arrived. If you haven't heard of them I assume that means they hadn't gone over the limits of the forest.'

'No, I haven't heard anything like that. Actually I haven't heard anything but the voice of the air conditioner in the past four days.' Landry was truly worried about Jack. If what he said was true they would have a difficult time neutralizing them.

'Great. I think that they are after us. I mean the facts point that way. They appeared when everyone arrived, they don't move out of the forest and they take the members of SG-1.' Jack thought out loud, putting the pieces together.

'What? What do you mean they take a member of SG-1?' This phone conversation was getting more and more frustrating.

'While we were out hunting them they attacked and took Vala. We don't know where she is and nobody saw which direction she had been taken.'

Landry had totally forgotten about the IOA files in front of him, he only focused on Jack's problem.

'Ok, Jack, just tell me what you need and it will be there in five hours.'

'We need reinforcements. A lot. And some weapons as well. We've almost gone out of ammo.'

'Agreed. Five hours Jack. Until then try to stay out of trouble.'

'Stay out of trouble? Those goddamn things have taken one of your best people and one of my friends. It's the least we can do to try and help her.' Jack said angrily, raising his voice more than necessary.

Landry could sympathize with him and wasn't angry at Jack.

'I am as worried as you are but believe me it wouldn't do much good.'

Jack didn't answer; he was trying to calm down first as much as possible. 'I know and I' sorry. It just seems so impossible. This whole thing'

'I know. Reinforcements are on their way, Jack.' Landry said as a final statement.

'Yes, sir.'

Landry heard Jack put down the phone so he followed his example. Instead of going to the cafeteria he reached for the red phone on his table with hope that he would be able to mobilize enough people in time.

oOo

Jack put down the phone and sat down on the couch. Cameron and Teal'c were sitting on two chairs looking at the floor in front of them, lost in their thoughts.

'Reinforcements are on the way. Landry said five hours or so and they will be here.' Jack's look was still concerned but Cameron could see something else in Jack's eyes, something that was similar to hope.

'Five hours, huh?' Cameron asked quite surprised. 'Wouldn't it take only two hours for them to get here?'

Jack understood his point.

'Normally it would. But it's Christmas you know. Most soldiers are now home with their families enjoying the time they can spend together.'

'True.' Cam replied briefly.

'How you feeling?' Jack asked after a short time of silence.

'Good. The pain had almost fully gone; only a little headache's what's left.' Cam explained.

'That's good. We're going to need you out there.

As Jack finished the sentence the front door opened and Sam entered the house followed by Daniel.

'Sir,' Sam called when she saw that Jack had finished talking on the phone.

'Carter,' Jack replied waiting for her to continue.

'What's the news?' She asked as she joined him on the couch.

'Oh, five hours and we'll be saved.' Jack answered with fake enthusiasm.

'That's a long time.' Daniel said.

'Yeah.'

'Sir, we have a plan to capture a beast.' Sam informed Jack since he was the only one who hadn't heard about it yet.

'You do? Let me hear it.' Jack said and listened as Sam exposed her quickly set up plan.

* * *

~TBC

I know this chapter is quite short but I only had time for this today. Hope it's not too disappointing. :)


	9. Familiar Marks

I knew the last chapter was a bit short so I took all of my free time and wrote another chapter in hope it would make up for the last short part.

* * *

**Chapter 9**

Vala couldn't tell whether it was day or night, she had totally lost track. Each minute that passed in the cold cavern seemed like an hour and she was starving which made her even less capable of concentrating. She never heard any voice again after she first seemed to hear talking from outside her cell and that proved her that she was only hallucinating. She had checked every inch on the walls trying to find a hidden lock or something that would help her escape but she had to face, her captors had done a good job with the cell.

She was out of options and couldn't do anything but wait for someone to help her. That was her biggest hope but right now she would have given anything for something to eat. She had been thinking of attacking whoever brought her food, assuming they would, and then escape but she had no clue how many of them there were.

Ok, Vala, she thought, you're a strong woman. You can escape, you just don't know how. Yet. And even if you don't find out anything, I'm sure Daniel and the rest of the team is already on their way getting closer and closer by the minute. No need to worry.

As much as she wanted to, she couldn't convince herself. Of course she worried.

Vala kept walking in the room hoping that would help her think. She could approximately determine the size of the cavern she was kept in. It was quite roomy for one person, as much as she could tell it was about a hundred feet by sixty. She suspected that it was made to hold more people. A lot more.

As she was walking alongside a wall she could hear footsteps from the same direction she had heard talking coming from. She hurried to the spot closest to the voice. Soon the footsteps stopped in front of her. She knew if hadn't been a wall between them she could have seen the face of whoever was on the other side. For some time nothing happened but then someone another row of footsteps joined the first one ending nearly the same spot the first did.

'We cannot wait longer. They will detect us if we wait. We have to leave.' Vala could hear a cold voice seeping through the thick stone wall.

'No. We have to accomplish our mission. If Todd finds out what we are doing here he will most certainly kill us.' Another voice, similar to the first one replied.

'Our mission was to kill SG-1, not to take prisoners. Now they will come after her and we aren't strong enough to defend ourselves against a whole planet.' The source of the first voice pushed.

'We will wait. Until the others are dead.'

'The beasts aren't what they should be. They don't act as they should. They don't follow orders.' First said and that made a lot of things clear for Vala. Why they attacked them, why didn't they leave the forest and why didn't they attack anyone else. She was starting to have a very bad feeling about the whole thing.

'The retrovirus didn't work as planned. We can't risk any more mistakes. We have to leave now.' First insisted.

'We leave when I say we leave.' Second was stubborn.

'But…' First started but he was cut off.

'Enough! If you want to live you do as I say or you will join SG-1 as the meal of the beasts.' Second ordered menacingly.

'Yes, my lord.' First's voice was quiet but Vala could feel he wasn't friendly with Second's choice.

Vala could hear the footsteps fading in two directions which meant that the two men left in the opposite direction. When Vala was sure nobody else was there she sat down and started to think about what she'd heart.

She now knew that the beasts didn't come by themselves; they were brought here by someone more dangerous. Todd, she remembered the mentioned name. They must be human if their superior's name was Todd. This fact didn't ease Vala's mind, it just made the fear in her grew stronger. They wanted to kill SG-1. That certainly wasn't good. But why did they keep her, if the plan was to have them dead? She couldn't answer that question but she felt better alive so the reason seemed to be insignificant to her. The worst part was that she couldn't warn her friends about the danger they were in. She could do nothing but wait until this nightmare was over.

oOo

That day wasn't as bright as the previous ones. Huge masses of grey clouds were wandering through the sky blocking the sun's warming rays from reaching the ground. Snow hadn't fallen since they arrived but hadn't melted either. A cold breeze grew to a wind and the rustling of the leaves became louder. But no matter what the weather was like, none of the five people cared. They had bigger problems to deal with, most important of all to save their teammate and friend.

Sam and Daniel followed Teal'c footprints in the snow to find him and get ready for bringing out their plan. All or nothing, Sam thought. She didn't know how much time they had left but she didn't want to waste a moment of it.

Jack and Mitchell were told to stay in the house, that they weren't needed outside. They weren't happy but agreed but told Sam to call for them if something went wrong. Daniel joined Sam following Teal'c to the edge of the forest. They agreed that Daniel wouldn't do anything but he just wanted to be there, even if he didn't know why. The snow crunched under Sam's sneakers, making the sound she loved but at the time she couldn't care. The only thing she cared about was their plan to be successful.

They reached the edge of the forest and found Teal'c standing next to a huge pine tree waiting for them to arrive.

'You ready, Teal'c?' Sam asked.

'I am, Colonel Carter.' He replied calmly.

'Good. I and Daniel will be watching from over there.' She said pointing at Cameron's car.

Teal'c just bowed his head as usual and turned towards the trees. Sam nodded towards the car letting Daniel know it was time to go. When Teal'c saw them far enough he took a couple of steps deeper in the forest and sat down with his back to the truck of a huge tree. He took his knife he always carried with himself and lifted it to his palm. This wasn't part of the plan but he thought it might work better if he let the smell of his blood lead the beasts to him. He pushed the cold steel against his skin and slowly loved it towards himself, making a small cut on his palm. It hurt but he was used to much bigger pain. Teal'c watched a drop of blood roll down on his arm and he felt the pain caused by his own blade but he stayed strong and focused on his task.

For minutes nothing happened, he could hear no voices other than the noises of the forest. He started to think their plan would fail when he heard a deep growl from his right. He prepared his staff weapon so he could fire immediately if he needed. A few blood drops colored the snow red next to him but Teal'c didn't pay attention. He waited to hear movement from somewhere around him and he didn't have to wait long. Slowly a pale grey face appeared among the trees, straight ahead of him.

Teal'c stood up, pushing himself against the tree as the beast slowly and deliberately approached. It was looking into the eyes of Teal'c, snarling. Teal'c lifted his staff, targeting the creature's head. It just kept closing on him and when it came dangerously close, Teal'c fired the weapon. Around the spot the blast hit the beast's head the skin melted and Teal'c could see the flesh of the animal. He was hoping it would kill it but it was just moving closer and closer. Teal'c fired again but didn't wait to see the result. He turned back and ran towards the clearing where hopefully Sam had already been waiting to take action. He could hear the beast cry behind him and that sound made him pick up the pace.

oOo

Sam and Daniel were standing beside Cameron's car when Teal'c appeared on the clearing, rushing towards them.

'Here we go.' Daniel warned and watched Sam turn on her zat.

A second later the huge grey wolf beast left the woods running after Teal'c and both Daniel and Sam could see that it was much faster than their Jaffa friend.

When Teal'c got close enough, Sam shouted at him, 'Teal'c, get down!'

Teal'c followed the order and quickly threw himself on the snow giving Sam a clear target. She felt as adrenaline flood through her veins as she fired the zat. The first hit was like no use. The beast kept on moving as if nothing happened. He only let Sam know she'd hit it by letting out a loud distorted cry.

'Come on, Sam, fire!' Daniel urged.

She didn't have to be told twice. Sam fired the zat two more times waiting for the effect. The second hit caused another cry and when the third wave reached the skin of the beast it lurched and took a step back. It was still growling at Sam, with saliva and blood dropping from its fangs. It waited until it has regained its balance and would have continued its way towards its target but Sam was quicker and fired the zat for the fourth time.

The beast had gotten dangerously close to Teal'c by then but fortunately the fourth wave of electricity had proven to be effective as the huge body of the mutant wolf fell on the snow. It let out a final growl and Teal'c, still lying on the snow, fired his staff once again to make sure their attacker was dead.

Daniel and Sam hurried to Teal'c who had stood up when they arrived.

'Teal'c, are you hurt?' Daniel asked with a concerned look when he saw the small line of blood in the snow, leading to Teal'c.

'I am fine.' He replied the usual Teal'c-way.

Sam wanted to ask what the blood in the snow was but she thought it would be better to leave it.

'Man, this is ugly.' Daniel stated as he took a better look at the body in front of them.

'Yeah. Let's tell General O'Neill we were successful. I hope it won't go anywhere until we get back.' Sam suggested and headed back towards the house.

'I will stay here to make sure nothing happens.' Teal'c told Daniel who just nodded silently and followed Sam.

oOo

'Finally.' Jack said with a sigh of relief when Sam entered the house. 'I thought you were…eaten or something.'

He was sitting on one side of the coffee table with Cameron facing him and a chess board between the two of them.

'You like chess?' Sam asked, avoiding the answer of the general's bad joke.

'Nope.' He answered briefly.

Cameron looked at him both surprised and a bit disappointed. 'Why didn't you tell me?'

'It's no big deal. One game won't kill me.'

'No, no, no. I mean I don't like it either. I was playing because you asked me.' Cameron explained.

'Oh.' Jack took cognizance, staring in front of him blankly.

Sam couldn't help but smile at Jack's face.

'So, whatcha got?' He switched subject looking up at Sam.

'We have a dead wolf.' She simply said.

'Wolf, you say?' Jack asked, waiting for assurance.

'Yep. A big one.'

'Alright then. Let's see.' Jack said and stood up from the couch.

'You didn't like this?' Cameron asked silently, not really believing they were playing the game neither of them liked.

He knocked down his queen and followed the others outside.

oOo

Teal'c seemed more uneasy when they arrived then he had been before they left. Sam was the first to take notice.

'What's wrong, Teal'c?' She asked and walked to her friend.

'I'm afraid I have bad news, Colonel Carter.' Teal'c said.

'What's up, T?' Jack asked making him continue.

Instead of answering Teal'c squatted down and took one of the beast's fore-feet into his hand showing its paw to the others.

Its foot was nothing of the foot a usual wolf would have. They were closer to human hands than wolf-feet despite the huge claws it had. But the claws weren't the interesting part.

'Oh, boy.' Sam said worriedly as she realized what she was looking at.

There was a huge cut in the middle of the paw.

'What's that?' Jack asked when he too saw the cut.

'It's similar to…' Sam started but it was Teal'c who finished the sentence.

'Wraith.'

'What?' Jack asked unbelievingly.

'You mean Wraith as in…' Daniel started but now Sam finished.

'As in Wraith of the Pegasus.'

'What?' Jack repeated impatiently.

'Sir, when I was in Atlantis our basic enemies were the Wraith.' Sam started to explain.

'Yeah, I know that.'

'And I had a chance to study one of them and among other features one of the unusual things they had was the cuts on their palms. They sipped out the life of humans through them.' Sam continued.

'Bottom line, Carter!' Jack ordered not caring about details.

'I don't know, sir. This seems to be a wolf-Wraith hybrid.'

Cameron, who had been just standing there listening the others now interrupted. 'Wait a minute. I lost track right at the beginning. I haven't read the Atlantis files. What are you talking about?'

'The Wraith is a race that evolved from a bug called iratus. They are basically feeding on humans. Their digestive systems don't work; they live by sucking life out of people. That's what the cut on their palms are for.' Sam explained, disgusted by even the thought of it.

'That's not cool.' Cameron expressed his opinion.

'Cool or not, this thing has the same cut as they have.' Sam said seriously.

'Which means?' Jack urged Sam.

'I'm not sure, sir. I have no idea why it's there on this creature or how it's got there but I have a bad feeling about this.'

'Vala!' Daniel suddenly said realizing how big danger she might have been in.

'Easy, Danny.' Jack told him when he saw what Daniel was about to do.

'We gotta go after her!' Daniel insisted.

'Re-in-force-ments!' Jack told him emphasizing every syllable.

He put a hand on Daniel's shoulder to make him understand waiting was the right thing to do.

'But Jack, General Landry said five hours. Since then passed what, thirty minutes?' Daniel asked controlled by anger.

'Daniel! If you went in there right now you wouldn't stand a chance. We wouldn't stand a chance together, all five of us, for god's sake.' Jack argued.

The others were just listening but their looks told Daniel too that Jack was right.

'So we wait.' Daniel said to himself not really liking the idea.

'Yes, we wait.' Jack agreed. 'Carter, you stay here study this…thing. I'm going to have a beer.' Jack said and with that he headed back to the house.

The anger in Daniel's eyes hadn't faded. He wanted to go, but he knew he would certainly be killed or captured as was Vala.

'Daniel Jackson, I know what you are feeling but understand this. I have seen what the Wraith are capable of. I know how dangerous they are.' Teal'c tried to make Daniel understand.

Daniel didn't reply, he just turned around and slowly started to walk back to the house.

'He's gonna be fine.' Sam told Teal'c and Mitchell who both were concerned about Daniel.

The two men nodded but didn't say anything.

'I'm gonna study this now so if you don't want to stay around watching what you probably don't care of, I think you should go back get yourselves occupied.' Sam said pointing at the dead wolf-Wraith hybrid.

'Yeah.' Cameron said silently and nodded in the direction of the house for Teal'c to go.

A minute later Sam was alone with a dead beast lying at her feet. 'Let's get started.' She said to herself and kneeled down to take a closer look at their friend.

oOo

Jack was quite edgy when Daniel had made his eleventh round in the room. He was just walking around without talking, always looking at the floor in front of him.

'Would you please stop?' Jack asked silently but with an edge in his voice.

'I'm sorry, I'm just nervous.' Daniel replied and stopped.

'Carter could be here any moment telling us whatever she had learned about this Wraithish wolf.' Jack said, as if that would make Daniel stop being nervous.

'Jack, what would you do if you were in my place?'

Jack wanted to tell Daniel that he had already gone through situations like that. Countless times Carter had gone missing and he had felt the same way Daniel felt now. But knowing it would expose his feelings, he just stayed quiet.

Jack was right. After a minute of silence the door opened and Sam entered the house. She joined the others in the living room.

'I have good news.' She started off. 'The feeding organ of this wolf doesn't work. They still feed by eating through their mouths.'

'Okay. Did you find out anything else?' Cameron asked. He wasn't sure if being eaten instead of having your life-force sucked out was good news.

'With my bare hands? You should be proud of me that I could learn this.' Sam said a bit angry but mostly offended.

'Oh, we're proud.' Jack interrupted. He didn't want the conversation to evolve to any higher level. That wouldn't do much good.

'So, what do we do now, general?' Cameron asked.

'Want another match?' Jack asked Cameron and nodded towards the chess board.

~TBC


	10. There's Always Hope

Sorry I haven't posted lately, I've just been quite busy. Here's chapter ten and tomorrow I will post another chapter to make up for the absence. So, enjoy!

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**Chapter 10**

Time seemed to pass much slower than it usually did. Daniel began walking around the room again, with his arms crossed in front of his chest. He didn't talk, only stopped sometimes to check if Teal'c was still watching the forest. Every time he looked at the Jaffa, he saw him standing still in the same spot, spying the trees across the clearing. Daniel couldn't imagine how Teal'c could be so calm or if he wasn't, how he could hide it that well. His face was still every time Daniel looked at him.

Sam was sitting at the dining table, lost in her thoughts. She tried to talk to Daniel and tell him to calm down but after the fourth attempt she had to admit there was no use. She could understand him though. Having lost somebody that was close to your heart was quite familiar to her. When his father passed away, it was one of the hardest times of her life. Though losing a father wasn't quite the same Daniel was going through, Sam was close to loose Jack so many times so she knew perfectly what Daniel was possibly feeling. When Jack got hit by a staff weapon on the battlefield, she thought she had lost him forever. When she remembered the huge pain and loss she felt then, like her life wasn't going to be the same again, like she had lost someone who she could not have lived without, she truly felt sorry for Daniel.

'Check.' Cameron broke the silence as he moved his rook across the chessboard.

'Dang,' was Jack's response after he had made sure his king was in check. He kept playing with his removed knight as he considered his next move. Though he didn't quite like chess he wasn't that bad at it as he first had thought.

'How long have you been playing?' Sam asked as she turned in the boys' direction.

'Not sure. Fifth or sixth game.' Jack answered without looking away from his pieces. He sighed after considering his possible moves, and then moved his bishop in between Cameron's rook and his king.

Sam didn't answer but kept watching Jack and Cameron.

'I thought you were gonna make that move.' Cameron told Jack with a triumphant smile on his face.

He reached for his queen and moved it so that it faced Jack's king. 'Checkmate.'

Jack wanted to find a way to avoid Cameron's attack but with no success. He let out a disappointed sigh and knocked down his king.

'Three-three.' Cameron told him the score.

'That's a friendly draw. I think it would be just perfect to leave the game now.' Jack suggested. He tried to tell Cameron in a polite way that he had enough of chess. Maybe he wasn't that good as he thought.

They both stood of from the coffee table and while Cameron walked to Sam, Jack headed outside the house.

'How are you feeling?' Sam asked after Cameron had sat down beside her.

'Good. Little dizzy but other than that I'm feeling perfect.'

'That's good.' Sam replied. She didn't know what to say to that other than 'that's good.'

'I think we should talk to Jackson.' Cameron told Sam quietly, careful to not let Daniel hear him.

'I don't think it would help him much.' She answered without any emotion in her voice.

'Do you really think that?' Cameron could see that Sam's thoughts were somewhere else.

She didn't answer.

'Sam?'

She looked at Cameron, 'No, you're right. You should talk to Daniel.'

'What about you?' He asked.

Sam waited for some seconds, thinking over what she was planning to do but finally she said, 'I'm going to go outside for some fresh air.'

Cameron knew what Sam was about to do and why. He wasn't the person to hold her up so he nodded in agreement. Sam stood up from the table and headed for the door while Cameron made his way to Daniel.

oOo

The clearing was quiet as Sam left the house. She couldn't hear noises around her, not even from the forest. Everything seemed peaceful, even the clouds had disappeared from the sky which was now showing its usual light blue color. Sam was looking for Jack but at first she couldn't find him. She thought he would be standing on the porch but it was empty, Sam was standing alone. For a moment she became frightened thinking of what could possibly have happened, worst case scenario. She was thinking of telling the others Jack was in trouble when she finally discovered footprints in the snow leading away from the porch. Sam relaxed as she realized they were left by Jack's boots.

Sam considered her choices making sure it wasn't better to just go back inside and wait for Jack to return. Finally she sighed as to exorcize nervousness from inside her and walked down the small stairs into the snow and followed the footprints leading in the direction of the frozen pond.

After she had taken a few steps she could see Jack's silhouette a couple dozen feet in front of her. He was standing still with his hands in his pockets, not realizing that someone was coming towards him. As Sam reached the pond she stopped next to

Jack and looked up at him without saying a word. She could see him staring at the pond, lost in his thoughts. Sam was sure he had noticed her and he just didn't want to talk.

For a minute they stood in silence side by side then finally Sam spoke.

'What's on your mind?' She left the sir purposefully, trying not to make the conversation look like it was going on between two officers but two friends.

Jack answered with his gaze still fixed on the glittering ice. 'I remember when you first entered the briefing room, introducing yourself as Captain Samantha Carter.'

She could help but smile as she recalled the memory.

'Yeah, totally embarrassing myself in that half hour or so.' She added.

'It wasn't that bad.' Jack said this time looking at her.

'Yes, it was.' She answered letting Jack know there was no use denying the truth.

'Yeah, it really was.' Jack answered after a short pause. 'But I knew from the first moment how brilliant you were.' He quickly added.

'Thank you.' Sam said still smiling then again, silence fell on the area.

They were both gazing the pond when this time Jack broke the silence.

'Eight long years we have served together. I watched you become Major from Captain and then Lieutenant Colonel from Major under my command. From the first day I have been proud of Sam Carter. And with every achievement, every promotion that pride grew stronger in me. It was a hard time for me to quit SG-1 but I knew that you would take good care of the team. That they would have an excellent CO and you have proven me right.' Sam waited for Jack to continue but after the general fell silent, she knew that was it. Every word Jack said just fed the love for him that was in Sam's heart.

'Thank you, Jack.'  
Jack heard Sam calling him by his first name but it just didn't seem to be as important as anything else right now.

'I miss the team.' Jack sighed.

Sam smiled sympathetically but Jack wasn't looking at her. 'And the team misses you. At least I know I do.'

Jack looked into her blue eyes and smiled, but no word left his mouth. She could feel the warmth fill her body as she looked back at him and for a moment she didn't feel the cold of the air.

'Yeah.' Jack muttered imperceptibly and turned back towards the pond.

'But hey, this holiday is a perfect opportunity for a reunion.' Sam said enthusiastically, trying to keep the conversation going.

'I wouldn't say perfect.' Jack snarled, thinking of the wolf-wraith hybrids hunting for them.

'Yeah, well, we can get this over with quickly and spend the rest of the holidays without worrying about anything.' Sam said confidently but her own words didn't convince herself.

Jack was hoping Sam's plan was going to work but by nature he always dealt with the worst possible outcome.

'We can still make this perfect.' Sam added when she saw the uncertainty on Jack's face. She looked up at the man next to her, hoping that he got her message.

He looked back at her, their eyes met and both of them knew they had the same feelings.

'Can we?' Jack asked softly and his tone told Sam that he understood her hint.

'Six years ago, I locked a part of me in that very room. A huge part of me, without which I can't be myself; a part of me that made me whole. First I thought it was going to get easier as time passed but it only became harder day by day. I couldn't keep that part of me locked away anymore. I let it out a long time ago, hoping that one day the desires would be satisfied and I know that even for a short time, this holiday could give me what I've been waiting for over ten years now.' Her voice was full of emotion as she spoke and Jack knew she let out almost everything she had been keeping inside of her for god knew how long.

'Sam, I…' He started but fell silent as he couldn't find the words to say. He wasn't that deep kind of person and he knew that. He wanted to tell her how he felt, that she wasn't the only one to keep feelings inside but he knew that would only make things worse.

Jack saw tears appearing in her eyes as she was waiting for him to say something. She opened up to him and the least he could have done was doing the same to her, but he felt too weak to even let out a breath.

'Please, Jack, tell me I wasn't hoping for something that didn't have a chance to happen.' Her voice trembled at the last word. The first teardrop ran down her face but she didn't care to wipe it away. 'Please.' Her tone was begging and Jack's heart almost broke seeing Sam Carter this fragile, this weak.

Jack could see the second teardrop follow the first and he reached out and gently wiped it away. He kept his hand touching her face and Sam lifted her own and laid it on Jack's. She didn't have to hear it to know what Jack felt.

'There's always hope.' Jack said almost whispering with a small but warm smile on his face.

Sam returned his smile and for a moment she felt like everything was going to be perfect. Though Jack didn't say anything exact he made sure there was hope.

'Jack!' They heard Daniel's voice calling from the house.

The moment ended and they both had to return to reality. Jack slowly moved his hand away from Sam's face and turned in the direction of the house. 'What?' He shouted a bit angrily.

'General Landry on the phone. He wants to talk to you.' Daniel answered loudly so that Jack could hear it.

'A minute!' Jack turned back to Sam who was looking at the snow in front of her. 'There's always hope. Don't ever forget that.'

With that he started jogging towards the house trying to make Landry wait as little as possible. Sam watched as the general got farther then she slowly walked back to the house following Jack.

oOo

'Yeah.' Jack said as he took the phone from Daniel.

'Jack, how are things going?' Landry asked when he heard the familiar voice.

'They aren't going. Things are standing still around us.' Jack asked with the usual O'Neill sarcasm.

'Yeah, well, I've got a team together. They just left so they should be arriving in an hour or so.' Hank Landry informed the other general.

'Really? That's nice.'

'Jack, I know you're upset but a little more patience please.'

'Right. One of my people is taken by half wolf, half wraith creatures and I'm doing nothing but sitting around waiting for help to arrive. I think my nervousness is understandable.' Jack replied angrily.

'Wraith, you said?' Landry asked surprised, waiting for affirmation.

'That's right.' Jack confirmed.

'That's a huge problem. But how did they get there?'

'I don't know anything about them. We haven't seen any actual wraith yet, only these hybrid things.' Jack explained.

'I see. Well, Major Lorne will be there in an hour as I previously told you so you don't have to wait that long.'

'Understood.' Jack said briefly. He was about to hung up when he could hear Landry's voice again.

'And Jack, you take Vala home.'

'Yes, sir.' He answered and hung up.

oOo

'What'd he say?' Cameron asked as Jack put down the phone on the coffee table.

'Another hour and they'll be here.' Jack answered this time without any emotion in his voice.

'Vala Mal Doran may not have that much time.' Teal'c pointed out as he slowly walked to the couch from the window.

'Wow, Teal'c. I almost forgot you speak.' Jack said, meaning that he barely heard Teal'c speak since Vala had been taken. Not that he was a talkative person but this was unusual even from him.

'I am most concerned about Vala Mal Doran. Forgive me if I do not speak too much.' Teal'c apologized.

'Yeah, well, there's nothing much to say anyway.'

'Who are they sending?' Daniel asked this time. He had taken Teal'c's place at the window and now he was the one spying the woods.

'Major Lorne.' Jack gave him the answer.

'So another hour.' Daniel muttered to himself.

Sam walked over to Daniel and laid her hand on his shoulder. 'We're going to find her.'

Daniel looked at her and when he saw Sam's reassuring smile he said, 'Yes, we are.'

'I've worked with Major Lorne. He does his work very well. That's why General Landry sent him.' Sam said.

'Yes, I'm sure he does.' Daniel answered simply.

Sam thought it would be better to leave Daniel alone so she sent one last friendly smile to him and walked away from the window.

'I'm hungry, guys.' Jack suddenly said and walked into the kitchen to get some food.

'He can't take things seriously, can he?' Cameron asked Sam careful not to let Jack hear them.

'This is Jack O'Neill.' Sam said eloquently.

'That explains it.' Cameron replied and watched as Jack took a plate with him to the table and started eating.

'Yes, it does.' Sam replied. She was looking at the general as well, thinking about their conversation earlier.

She then looked at Daniel who was still looking out the window with a dark expression on his face. Sam was sure they would do everything they could to find Vala and after that kill every hybrid in the forest.

Jack's last words echoed in her head.

There's always hope.

~TBC


	11. Complications

Sorry guys I don't post more often but I just don't have that motivation I should. Maybe you could boost my motivation by reviewing. ;) I know my english is not perfect and that my vocabulary is poor but my first language is not english, so...Anyway, here's chapter 11.

* * *

**Chapter 11**

Unsurprisingly, Jack was sitting on the couch. The room was silent as the five of them were waiting for Major Lorne's unit to arrive. Jack watched as Sam walked across the room, stopping in front of the Christmas tree. He had been watching her for the past ten minutes and he would have been surprised if nobody had noticed that. It was too obvious, but he didn't care. He couldn't snap Sam's words out of his mind. The way she looked at him as she exposed herself at the pond. He had never seen her like that before and he was really touched by seeing her got that emotional. He so wanted to…

'Sir?' Sam asked with a questioning look on her face.

As Jack returned to reality he saw Sam was staring right at him. He didn't notice while he was lost in his thoughts.

'Sorry.' He simply replied trying to get done with it as quick as possible. He felt a bit embarrassed but he tried not to show it.

She didn't say anything just turned back towards the tree and Jack couldn't see as a small smile appeared on her face.

'And…three, two, one.' They all heard Daniel's voice counting down.

'Whatcha got there?' Cameron asked.

'The hour has passed. Lorne should be here by now." Daniel complained as he nervously stood up from the kitchen table and made his way to the living room.

Teal'c looked at Daniel and raised one of his eyebrows as to try to understand the archeologist. He opened his mouth to ask but Jack reacted faster.

'Daniel, did you really think they would arrive exactly in an hour?' His tone was a bit contemptuous but he could understand his friend.

'Whatcha think Jack?' Daniel asked back and nobody in the room could miss the naked irony and sarcasm in his voice.

Jack, as well as the others, was surprised by Daniel's tone. He thought about replying the same way but as he opened his mouth to send him a good dose of O'Neill irony he realized it wouldn't help either of them. Jack uttered an imperceptible 'right' and swallowed the words his was about to unleash.

Daniel regretted his behavior at the moment he spoke but it was too late to take it back and he knew if it came to it again, he would answer the same way anyway.

'They will soon arrive, Daniel Jackson.' Teal'c reassured.

'Yeah.' Daniel simply replied and turned away from the others.

A huge variety of feelings were swirling in Daniel's mind and he could hardly separate them. Anger, fear, care, love. Though he didn't want to face the fact, he couldn't avoid thinking of the possibility that he would never have the opportunity to give Vala her Christmas present. To get away from the thought he tried to remember the good times they'd spent together. He had already recalled several memories of their past but the memories of her seemed to be the only things keeping him from breaking down. When they first met he never would have thought about anything serious develop between them but here he was, worrying about Vala as if she were a part of him he just could not afford to lose. He hoped for the best and didn't give up on her but Daniel felt as despondency was about to overcome his hope.

oOo

Cameron's headache had finally disappeared and it made him feel a lot better. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, his eyes wandering from one person in the room to the other. He could read about the same feelings on each of their faces. He was probably showing the same. He stopped as he looked at Teal'c. He had always wondered how someone could possibly be this solemn all the time. He liked the Jaffa, and he owed him his life, which he was grateful for. But there was this part of Teal'c that Cameron never seemed to be able to read. As much as he didn't understand, Cameron always looked up to Teal'c. He was the warrior Cameron would never be and that made him respect him even more.

His eyes slowly wandered to Sam. As he looked at her he felt something he would call attraction. First, when she rebuffed the opportunity to rejoin SG-1 two years ago, Cameron was truly disappointed. Sam Carter was the most beautiful astrophysicist in the universe and he wasn't the only one with that opinion. Jack O'Neill. Cameron always felt a kind of rivalry going on between him and the general. Though he would never admit as much as Jack had to Sam, he still had those feelings inside him but when he saw Jack and Sam together he could feel, he _knew_, that they were meant to be together. Cameron never really understood how Jack could let the opportunity slip right out of his hands. He could have the woman he had always wanted to be with and he just stood by, watching time pass and one day realizing it was too late and that he should have taken the first step a long time ago. Not that it was any of his business. But it wasn't just Jack who he felt sorry for, but he could see the spark in Sam's eyes when she was with Jack. It would hurt her just as much as Jack if he didn't do something about them and Sam didn't deserve that. She hadn't deserved that in the last ten years either. He wished there was something he could do about it.

oOo

Major General Jack O'Neill. Has a nice ring, Jack thought as he kept repeating the name his nameplate read on his desk in Washington D.C. He was satisfied with his achievements; that he made it to the two stars on his uniform. He was proud of himself. Major General Jack O'Neill…

Jack heard Cameron utter something but he couldn't understand.

'Headache?' He asked, looking at the colonel.

Cameron first didn't realize Jack was talking to him only when the proud two star genera couched as to call his attention.

'No, sir. I was just thinking about…stuff.'

'Stuff!' Jack repeated with fake-enthusiasm. 'Stuff's good. I love stuff.'

Jack was slightly sarcastic in his best moments but now that they were in the middle of a crisis his behavior just worsened and they all could feel it in the room. Cameron muttered again and Jack couldn't understand that either but this time he had a feeling the colonel was talking about him in a disparaging way and if that was the case, Jack rejected the idea to hear and understand him. He let out an exhausted sigh and sank into the couch, closing his eyes.

'There's something wrong.' He could hear Daniel's voice just when he was about to try to relax.

'What do you mean?' Sam asked. She knew a lot of things were wrong but Daniel's tone told her he was meaning something new.

'We've been waiting foranother half-hour and they're still not here. It's like them to be overdue.' Daniel shared his thoughts.

'I believe Daniel Jackson is correct. Major Lorne is most reliable. There must be a reason for being late.' Teal'c agreed with Daniel. Both of them shared concerned looks.

Jack knew Daniel was worried and was overreacting a couple of times earlier but thirty minutes was a long time. He pulled the sleeve of his hoodie so that he could check his watch. Thirty minutes.

'Daniel's right, sir. They should've arrived by now.'

Jack studied his watch absorbedly as he heard Sam confirm Daniel's opinion.

'Well,' Jack started with his gaze still fixed on the watch. 'Maybe we should call Landry. Ask what takes so long.'

Nobody replied but Jack knew they agreed. He slowly reached for the phone on the table and dialed the number of the SGC.

'Landry.' The general answered on the second ring.

'This is Jack. When did you say Lorne was due to arrive?'

'Around seventeen hundred hours, why?' Landry asked hiding his curiosity in his monotone tone.

'It's seventeen forty-two and they're not here.' Jack informed Hank.

'How's that possible?

'Don't ask me. Daniel and Teal'c say there must have something gone wrong. Would you call them and ask where the hell they are?' Jack asked but it sounded more like a demand.

'Sure. Just a minute.' Landry answered and hung up.

Jack lowered his hand holding the phone and turned to the others who were looking at him questioningly.

'He said he'll call 'em.' Jack told the others.

A minute passed in uncomfortable silence after which Jack's phone rang.

'Yeah.' He answered immediately.

'Colonel Carter and Dr. Jackson may be right. There might be a problem. Lorne didn't answer the phone.' Landry told him the news.

'Great. Then we're alone.' Jack stated offhandedly. He could hear Sam ask a 'what' in the background but he kept his attention at Landry.

'It seems so, Jack.' General Landry didn't succeed at reassuring him.

'Great.' Jack simply replied and started thinking about what to do now. 'Hank, is the Daedalus available?'

'What do you mean, Jack?'

'I was just thinking that maybe they could beam us some of those ancient life sign detectors.' Jack could hear the others talking but he still couldn't explain them the situation. They would have to wait until he had finished.

'Done.' Landry said after a short pause and a moment later two of the required detectors appeared on the coffee table among a bright white beam.

'Thanks. And we would also need some ammo.' Jack continued the wish list.

Landry approved and seconds later a box of P-90 clips appeared next to the table. 'Thank you, Hank. I think this is it.'

'You want to go by yourself?'

'We have no other choice.' Jack said resolutely.

'Alright then. Good luck, Jack. To all of you.' Landry wished luck.

'Thanks.' Jack replied and hung up.

He threw the phone on the table and faced the others. He could see the confusion on their faces so he began to explain the situation before any of them could have asked.

'Lorne's unit seems to be in trouble. They didn't answer the phone. We should suspect that they were attacked by those hybrid creatures. Fortunately I could get some ammo and two ancient devices as you can see. We're only five but now we will hopefully be able to see each other and to see those creatures as well.'

It took a couple of seconds for the others to take in the bad news. The confusion didn't disappear from their faces.

'Ok.' Jack said when he saw there were no questions. 'We should go right away. We go in the same teams as yesterday so Carter and Teal'c with me and Cameron with Daniel. One of the life sign detectors will be with me, the other will be at Cameron.'

He took one of the devices and threw it to the colonel.

Everyone nodded in agreement. Jack and Cameron walked to the table to put away the clips into their backpacks. It would have been better to have their vests with them but they weren't planning to go on a mission so they had to do with backpacks.  
Finally all of them picked up their P-90s, Teal'c his staff weapon and they stood in the living room, ready to go.

'Ok, kids. Move out.' Jack ordered and the two teams left the house, out into the cold, chilly winter twilight.

~TBC


	12. A Small Dose of Luck

**Chapter 12**

As the two teams split up after reaching the tree line, Jack looked at the life sign detector in his hand. Its screen was black and he couldn't find any switches or buttons on it no matter how desperately he searched. He shook it with a slight hope that the device would work that way but he wasn't too much surprised when the screen stayed black. Jack stopped and turned back to Sam who was walking behind him with Teal'c on her left hand side.

'How does this work, Carter?' He asked from his former 2IC.

'Concentrate on it.' Sam simply answered. If any average person had heard it they would have certainly think they were insane. This expression reflected on Jack's face too.

'Concentrate?' He repeated, unconvinced by the given instruction.

Jack waited for Sam to tell him she was just joking but she just nodded and her serious features told him she wasn't joking at all.

'Alright.' Jack said, still not fully believing. He looked at the device and tried to think of it working. First nothing happened. 'Doesn't work.' Jack simply stated.

'Yes, it does.' Sam assured, telling him to try again.

Jack muttered something and looked back at the life sign detector. He took a deeper breath and pictured the device working again. He concentrated harder on the image in his mind and after a couple of seconds the black screen lighted up and a couple dozen light blue spots appeared on it.

'Whoa.' Jack uttered when he saw the spots on the screen.

'What is it, O'Neill?' Teal'c asked and steeped closer to the general. So did Sam.

'If what I think is right then we're in big trouble.' Jack told the others without taking his eyes off the screen.

'If you think these are life signs of the creatures, then you're right.' Sam helped in.

'I did not expect them to be this big in number.' Teal'c said perturbed.

'This will be harder than I first thought.' Sam said with sensible fear in her voice.

'Piece of cake.' Jack enlightened the situation as he usually did.

Sam could help but smile at Jack. He kept amazing her time after time.

'General, come in.' Cameron's voice broke the silence.

'Go on.' Jack answered on his radio. He was curious what could have happened this quickly.

'Could you make that device work?'

'With a little help, yeah.' Jack answered deliberately.

'Could you tell me why mine wouldn't work?' Cameron asked somewhat angry.

'You should ask Carter. She's the smart.' Jack answered, shifting the task to Sam.

Sam said a silent but meaningful 'thank you' as she took the radio from Jack. He just sent her a wide smile and waited for her to explain Cameron what she had explained to him.

'It's Sam.'

'Carter, what do I do to make this work?' Cameron asked; his tone impatient.

'After a short pause Sam told him carefully. 'I'm afraid you can't.'

'What do you mean I can't?' Cameron was perplexed. He had never before seen such a device but it was hard to believe he couldn't make it work. If Jack could, he was able to do it too.

'Only a person with the ancient gene can get these devices to work.' Sam explained apologetically.

'And when were you planning on telling me this?' Cameron's confusedness subsided to anger.

'Sorry, Cam. I just have to deal with other, bigger problems now. I apologize for forgetting something this important.' Sam answered derisively.

That's my girl; Jack thought proudly when he heard Sam's response to Cameron. As if hearing his thoughts, Sam looked at Jack with a smile on her face. Jack smiled back at her and it seemed to be enough for Sam to understand what he was meaning by it. It was as if they were communicating mentally, without actual words.

'Never mind. We'll get by.' Cameron simply answered trying to exorcize the anger from his tone.

Jack reached out towards Sam, asking for the radio. She handed it over.

'Hey, Mitchell, if it makes you feel better, we can still see you.' Jack said reassuringly, and looked at the screen checking if he really could see them. First he couldn't quite make difference between the blue dots. Finally he discovered the two dots, away from the others.

'Start moving.' Jack gave the instructions through the radio.

'Why?' Cameron asked back.

Jack neither had the mood nor the patience for explanations. 'Just do it.'

Jack kept his eyes on the two separate dots on the screen. Seconds later they both started to move in the direction of the other dots, probably the wraith hybrids.

'Ok. We gotcha.' Jack told Cameron.

'Understood. Though I don't feel any better.'

'Yeah, well, check in every ten minutes. O'Neill out.' With that Jack ended the conversation.

He turned back to Teal'c and Sam who were waiting for him to tell them to go.

'Ok, guys. If you don't have any questions, I suggest we should go.'

'O'Neill, I do not think it is wise to attack the beasts.' Teal'c protested.

'Who said it was? Let's go.' Jack said offhandedly and gestured towards the inside of the forest.

Teal'c bowed slowly as to let Jack know he understood. Jack also nodded in response and headed towards the closest dot he could see on the screen of the life sign detector. Sam and Teal'c followed him silently.

oOo

Daniel silently walked behind Cameron, careful to not make any noise. Neither of them talked, they both knew there was nothing to say. They had been walking for about ten minutes as much as Daniel could tell and so far they hadn't found anything. As they walked deeper and deeper into the night the weather got colder and the light breeze they felt when they started searching had grown to a chilling wind.

'It would be a hell lot easier if had a working device.' Daniel complained.

Cameron responded without turning towards his teammate. 'Ancient gene. That is a thing big enough to be mentioned.'

'Yeah, but still you can't blame Sam for not telling you. She's worried about Vala and,' Daniel paused but after a few seconds he continued. 'She has other things on her mind too.'

'What do you mean other things?' Cameron asked, curious about the topic. He also wanted to keep the conversation going so the forest wouldn't be eerily silent.

'Personal stuff.' Daniel replied.

'Right. I don't blame her by the way. I just thought she would warn me about something like that.' The colonel explained.

Daniel carefully stepped over a broken trunk and opened his mouth to answer Cameron when the colonel suddenly lifted his arm, signaling him to stop and stay quiet. The archeologist followed the orders and tried to find what Cameron was seeing. He looked in the direction Cameron was and didn't take too much time for him to discover a body lying on the ground a couple feet away.

Cameron made his grip on the P-90 tighter and slowly started to move towards the body. Daniel followed him, with his weapon ready to fire if anyone or anything attacked them. When he reached the body Cameron kneeled down beside it to take a closer look.

'Dead.' Cameron stated when he couldn't feel the pulse.

'He's wearing SGC uniform.' Daniel told when he discovered the familiar symbol of the point of origin on the shoulder of the BDU.

'Must have been on Lorne's team.' Cameron added and stood up. He couldn't take the smell of the dead body.

'Still I wonder what they were doing here in the forest. The house is not in this direction.' Daniel wondered.

'They must have been chased by the beasts. They probably thought their only chance was to try and find refuge in the forest.' It was the only acceptable explanation Cameron could think of.

As they stood there, they could heard leaves rustling to their right. They immediately lifted their weapons, aiming at the direction of the sound. Their hearts raced as they waited for the thing appear among the bushes.

'Here we go.' Cameron muttered when it was only a matter of seconds that they came face to face with the source of the sound.

Daniel laid his finger on the trigger ready to shoot when suddenly a man appeared among the trees in front of them. His face was covered in blood so it was hard to determine his identity. He carried a P-90 like Daniel and Cameron. For a minute they were standing with their weapons aiming at one another.

'Mitchell?' The stranger said and lowered his weapon.

The others did too when they saw the man in front of them no longer meant any harm.

'Yeah. Who are you?' Cameron voiced his query.

'Major Lorne.'

'Lorne?' Daniel repeated, stunned. 'We thought you were…'

'Dead.' Lorne finished the sentence for him. 'We are. I mean I'm the only one who stayed alive.'

'What happened?' Cameron asked for details.

'We were on our way to General O'Neill's house when a group of hybrids attacked us. We had to leave our vehicles as we had no chance against them. We split up into smaller groups and tried to hide in the forest but those things were everywhere.

With my team we seemed to have found shelter not far from here behind a broken trunk that was big enough to cover us. They found us anyway. I heard my people being killed through the radio. We were falling one by one. Until I was the only one left. God, I'm glad to see you guys.' Lorne's voice was permeated with fear as he spoke.

'It's alright now. As much as it can be.' Daniel laid a hand on Lorne's shoulder trying to reassure the major.

'So, what's the situation?' Lorne tried to clear his mind and concentrate on their mission.

'We've lost Vala. Those things have taken her.' Daniel informed Lorne negligently.

'And you're trying to find her?'

'We are.' Cameron replied confidently.

'You as in…' Lorne started, waiting for Cameron to give him the name list.

'General O'Neill, Dr. Jackson, Colonel Carter, Teal'c and myself.'

'And where are the others?' The major kept asking.

'We split up. That way we should be able to cover more ground.' Cameron explained. He was trying to sound patient but on the inside he was starting to get enough of talking and wanted to do some actions that could really help them find Vala.

'Do we know what we're looking for?' Lorne enquired.

'We're not sure. Anything that might be able to keep Vala imprisoned.' Daniel was quite angry they haven't a more certain clue.

'That's not much of a hint.' Lorne recognized the problem.

Cameron shrugged as a sign there was nothing to do about it. When he gladly saw Lorne had run out of questions he said. 'Our chances are better now that we're three. Let's go.'

Both Daniel and Major Lorne nodded in agreement and they followed Cameron who walked in front, leading the way.

After a short minute of walking Daniel broke the silence.

'Major Lorne, you wouldn't happen to have that ancient gene in you, would you?'

Lorne, who was walking in the middle of the row stopped and turned back to Daniel.

'Actually I would. Why?'

'Great.' Daniel asseverated and took the life sign detector out of his backpack.

'Ah, this.' Lorne identified the object and took it from Daniel.

'You should be able to make it work.' The screen of the device lighted up in Lorne's hand before Daniel could finish his sentence. 'You are.' He added.

'I've used this thing endless times while I was on Atlantis.' Lorne explained as if it were the most ordinary thing in the word.

'Can you see General O'Neill's team?' Cameron, who meanwhile had walked to them, joined the conversation.

'Unfortunately, the spots are the same color. This thing doesn't make difference between humans and other beings.' The major said begrudgingly. 'But, I can see a group of three far from the other life signs. Those might be them.'

'With a small dose of luck, they are.' Cameron voiced his hope and with that he turned back towards the direction they were going.

'Luck.' Lorne repeated. 'We're going to need a lot more of that than just a small dose.'

Daniel silently agreed and they followed Colonel Mitchell into the forest of uncertainty.

~TBC


	13. Glow in the Shadow

As ALIMOO1971 so eagerly pointed out, there are HUUUUGE mistakes in the story, so count on them...What I'm really trying to say is, enjoy the story and don't ask stupid questions, please? :D

* * *

**Chapter 13**

Jack was humming nervously as he tried to ease the tension that had been built up around the three of them. He was mostly watching the life sign device in his hand to determine whether they were still going in the right direction. If there was any that could be called right. They all knew no matter what road they took, they would face the creatures anyway. With each step they came closer to a huge group of blue dots. It was only a matter of time they spotted the wraith.

Besides watching the enemy fife signs Jack always kept an eye on Daniel and Mitchell. They too were moving slowly in the direction of the mass of life signs, only they were closing up from a very different direction.

'Would you please stop that?' Sam suddenly asked. She was aiming the question at Jack and neither him, nor Teal'c missed the uncovered gruffness in her tone.

'Jack?' She called after she received no response from the general. She hoped that calling him by his first name would catch his attention.

The plan worked. 'Excuse me?' He asked as he stopped and turned towards his former 2IC.

'Could you stop…' Sam started but she was cut off by the strays of the radio. 'Never mind.' She sighed. At least she made him stop humming.

A second later Cameron's voice shot out from the speakers. 'General, come in.'

For a couple of seconds Jack ignored the colonel and kept staring at Sam, waiting for her question. She just said a silent nothing and nodded towards the radio. Jack knew she wanted something but he knew her too well to know that once she had decided not to speak, nobody could make her do so.

'General?' Cameron repeated again.

Jack reached for the radio and answered. 'Go on.'

'I've got a handful of good news.' Cameron said.

'It's about time, Mitchell. So, what happened?' Jack asked for details.

Sam and Teal'c stood by silently, listening to the conversation.

'Major Lorne's alive. We just ran into each other.' Cameron started.

'That's really good news.' Jack said appreciatively.

'There's more. He has the ancient gene that can make the life sign detector work. We're now able to track down the beasts too.'

'Good. Check in in ten minutes.' Jack told them. 'O'Neill out.'

From the looks of Sam and Teal'c, Jack could tell they heard the conversation.

'Good news indeed.' Teal'c made sure to O'Neill that they heard Cameron.

'Lorne's a great soldier. It would be a great loss if he died.' Sam added her own thoughts.

'Now that we've discussed this matter, shall we go on?' Jack asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

The events of the next few seconds happened so fast that Jack could hardly follow.

As Teal'c was looking at O'Neill, he could see two glowing eyes appear in the trees behind Jack.

'O'Neill, get down!' Teal'c shouted as he raised his staff weapon.

Jack didn't argue; he knew there was something wrong. He threw himself on the ground just a moment before an orange blast crossed the air where he stood a second before. Jack couldn't see but he could hear the familiar cry of wraith beasts just as he hit the ground. Familiar it was to him but still it sounded different. It was more distorted than the sound of the beasts they had heard before. Lying on the ground Jack looked over his shoulder to see what Teal'c was shooting at. He couldn't see anything behind him but he knew the Jaffa wasn't shooting the air. He turned back to Teal'c but before he could have reacted the Jaffa ran into the trees. Jack heard Sam calling after Teal'c but their friend didn't seem to care. He didn't shout Teal'c's name, he was too stunned. Whatever Teal'c saw, he must have recognized it, otherwise he wouldn't have left them. Seconds passed as Jack lied on the ground taking in the events of the last couple of seconds. Sam must have been doing the same because she stood stunned too, staring into the trees.

Jack slowly stood up from the ground and turned in the direction where Teal'c left, hoping for the Jaffa to return. He didn't. He quickly checked the life sign detector, hoping he would find Teal'c with it. Jack could see as two lonely dots moved slowly towards the frame of the screen. Fortunately they weren't moving in the direction of the other wraith.

'Crap.' Jack groused. He watched as the two dots, probably Teal'c and his attacker disappeared from the radar.

He was about to turn back to Sam when she suddenly stormed past him towards the way Teal'c left.

'Carter, what are you doing?' Jack asked sharply after he grabbed her arm and prevented her from disappearing like Teal'c did.

'Sir, we have to go after him.' Sam shouted desperately.

'No! He had already disappeared from the detectors' screen and we have no idea where he might have gone.'

Sam couldn't accept Jack's reasoning though deep down she knew he was right. She kept fighting against Jack's grip but the general wasn't letting her go. Slowly she started to calm down, and when she was no longer trying to get away, Jack released her arm.

'Teal'c is a big guy. He can take care of himself.' Jack told Sam calmly, trying to not show the apprehension he felt.

'I sure hope so. Losing Vala is hard enough itself.'

'We're gonna find 'em.' Jack said trying to sound positive but he wasn't sure he had done a good job.

Sam just silently nodded and waited for Jack's next order. Instead of telling her what their next step would be, Jack reached for his radio.

'Mitchell, come in.'

A couple of seconds passed until he received a response from the colonel.

'Yeah. Go.'

'We have bad news. Something tried to attack us and Teal'c kind of disappeared.' Jack explained and ran his free hand through his silver hair.

'Are you alright?' Cameron asked, dread permeating his voice.

'Yes, Carter and I are fine. As for Teal'c, he went after our mysterious attacker. We don't know where he is now, he has disappeared from the life sign detectors' screen.'

'Dammit.' Jack could hear Cameron cursing silently. 'First Vala, now Teal'c. This is getting worse and worse.'

Cameron reacted quite differently than Sam. Probably because Teal'c was closer to Sam than Cameron and she also knew his Jaffa friend better than the other colonel.

'What now?' Cameron asked after a brief moment of thinking.

'We keep on going. Teal'c's gonna be fine.' To a stranger Jack might have seemed to be heartless leaving Teal'c alone but those working at the SCG knew that they never left anyone behind.

'Yes, sir.' Cameron knew the motto as well, that's why he could accept the order without thinking twice.

'One more thing, Mitchell.' Jack added. 'We're now getting close to those things. Impose radio silence for indefinite time.'

'Understood. Mitchell over and out.' Cameron replied and turned off his radio.

Jack did the same and turned back to Sam who had been waiting patiently next to him.

'You ready?' Jack asked.

'Ready as I can be.' She replied resolutely but Jack could still felt the uncertainty in her voice.

'Good. Now let's go, reap some wraith heads off.'

Sam nodded in accord and the two comrades and friends headed for the closest group of alien creatures.

oOo

As they got closer to the wraith the fog started to thicken and the range of their visions narrowed until they could only see a couple of feet in front of them. They tried to help themselves with the lamps on their P-90s but even those lights weren't strong enough to make their way through the fog. Major Lorne checked the life sign detector and registered that they were only about a couple hundred feet from the beasts.

'We're almost there.' The major informed the others to get ready.

'Don't you find this strange?' Daniel asked as they moved on.

'What?' Cameron asked as he had no idea what the archeologist was talking about.

'Lorne said we're almost there and they haven't attacked us yet. We haven't even heard any noises. This is not like them.'

'As if they were waiting.' Lorne added. He too had discovered the strange behavior of the wraith. When he and his team were on the way to O'Neill's, the creatures just appeared out of nowhere and attacked them. From what he knew, it wasn't like them to just sit around and wait. There was something else going on.

'Waiting for what?' Cameron let out the question but he and the other two knew that the answer to that was obvious.

'Us.' Daniel answered. He didn't like the sound of that but someone had to say it out loud.

'Mitchell, come in.' The sudden sound of the radio gave all of them a jump.

'Yeah. Go.' Cameron answered O'Neill, giving him a green light.

Daniel and Lorne stopped as they heard Jack on the radio. They stood by listening to the conversation. They could hear Jack telling that they had been attacked and that Teal'c had gone after the attacker. As both Daniel and Lorne were worrying about Teal'c they didn't listen to the end of the conversation therefore when Cameron turned off his radio in the end they both got quite surprised.

'What's that for?' Lorne inquired.

'Radio silence. We're getting close. We don't want them to hear us.' Cameron explained.

'What difference does it make?' Daniel said negligently. He didn't believe that silencing the radio would help them much.

'Probably not much.' Cameron agreed and lifted his P-90 as a signal. 'Ready to go, guys?'

Daniel took a deep breath. He wasn't keen on the idea of fighting but in case he wanted to save Vala he had to do it. He exhaled his breath and nodded to Cameron. The colonel looked to Lorne to see whether or not he was ready, but the determined expression on his face gave him the answer he needed.

'Alright. Let's go.' The colonel ordered and led the way into the fog in front of them. They felt as the cold got more chilling as they were making their way across the fog, right into the arms of the ruthless beasts.

oOo

Teal'c ran as fast as he could. Though it was hard to maneuver among the trees with his staff weapon in his hand he couldn't lose the Goa'uld. The moment he saw its glowing eyes in the shadows, the hatred for those creatures he quelled a long time ago appeared again, overwhelming every other emotion in his heart. For almost two years he had thought the Goa'uld had disappeared for good and he just couldn't let even a single one of them live.

He was a couple feet behind the Goa'uld but every time Teal'c seemed to catch up to him, it got farther away. Teal'c was starting to tire but he kept running, forcing every muscle in his body to work on maximum capacity. He jumped over a fallen trunk and fell behind a couple feet again. He never looked away from the Goa'uld to not lose sight of it. For a split second the moon's beams lit the area around them and Teal'c could see the long white hair shine in the dark. He couldn't believe what he was seeing and involuntarily slowed down a bit. For a moment Teal'c lost concentration and couldn't react as a wolf beast suddenly jumped at him from sideways. He lost his balance and fell on the ground. The staff weapon flew out of his hand and as the weight of the beast pressed Teal'c to the ground he couldn't move to get his it back. When he saw there was no chance getting his staff back, he turned back to the beast on top of him. It was biting the air, trying to reach Teal'c but before it could have wounded him, the Jaffa pushed it aside using both his arms and legs. The wraith flew across the air and with a huge thud, hit the ground. It gave enough time for Teal'c to get up and run to his weapon. He picked it up from the ground and turned towards the wraith, which had stood back up by then, growling loudly.

Teal'c waited for the beast to make its move. It didn't hesitate and with a sharp cry, it shot itself ahead in the direction of Teal'c. The Jaffa was waiting exactly for that to happen and before the wraith could have lifted a leg from the ground the orange blast of the staff weapon hit its head, deforming its features permanently. Life vanished from the creature's eyes and the dead body fell on the ground as a huge punch bag.

Teal'c breathed heavily as he lowered his weapon and watched the body on the ground intensely. While he was fighting with the beast, the Goa'uld had more than enough time to escape. Teal'c cursed silently, not wanting to accept his failure. He should have stopped it. He never should have let the Goa'uld get away. Teal'c tried to calm down, inhaling deeply, clearing his mind. There was no use in self-pity. He thought over his situation but the conclusion he came to wasn't as good as wanted it to be. He didn't know where he was and didn't have anything to help him find his way back to his team. He was lost.

No matter how hopeless his situation might have seemed he couldn't just sit around and wait. He had to at least try and find the rest of the team. He could approximately determine the direction the wraith showed up. It was his best chance.  
He looked at the body one more time before he slowly walked away into the trees, slowly disappearing in the thick fog.

~TBC


	14. Too Late for Sam and Jack

This is a huge turning point in this story that is why this chapter contains about 4500 words. I know it is now prefect but when the story's ready I will read it again and correct anything that is wrong. Soo, enjoy!  
God, I so hate myself for mistyping a lot of times. Hope you'll forgive me. :)

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**Chapter 14**

Daniel moved forward slowly, listening to every noise around him. He had been on many missions before, all dangerous and there was always a chance that he might never make it home alive. Those missions were different though. Now he didn't have to worry about getting home in one piece, he was already home. Well, not home as in his house but he was on Earth. But this fact didn't cheer him up. There was still a chance for getting killed and no matter whether or not he was at home; death meant the same thing both cases.

Daniel didn't want to leave the living just yet, but the fear of death wasn't the strongest feeling in him. His heart raced as the thought of finding Vala filled his mind. He had never felt more determined in his life than he felt right now. He knew that if needed, he would give his life for Vala without thinking. He couldn't tell exactly when their relationship developed to the level where he would even die for her, but it just didn't feel important. The fact that Daniel would even face death to save the woman who he cared for more than any other woman he had met in his life was enough.

As he was looking at the back of Cameron who was walking in front of him, Daniel accidentally stepped on a twig and the crunching sound of the wood was loud enough to let the beasts know their position. In that very moment they heard the familiar growl coming from all directions. The three men froze and waited with their breaths held for the inevitable. Lorne checked the life sign detector but it didn't contain any new information. They were being surrounded.

'I screwed up.' Daniel whispered regretfully.

A moment later they could hear the rustling of the leaves join the dreadful growling.

'You did!' Cameron agreed much louder, since they had already given their position away.

The colonel was right. In a brief moment the wolf-wraith beasts appeared from the trees and the trio found themselves encircled by the bloodthirsty mutant creatures. None of them needed to be told what to do; they all started firing at the same moment. The silence that surrounded the trio a minute ago was now replaced by the roar of the firing guns accompanied by the ear-piercing cries of the creatures as the bullets lodged into their fleshes. The creatures took a couple steps backwards trying to get out of the way of the bullets but they soon realized they couldn't, so instead of backing off they started to move forward, the ring of beasts closing up on the firing men.

'We need a plan B!' Lorne shouted as loud as could while he kept firing at the beasts.

They all knew that gunfire wasn't going to stop the mutant creatures. They didn't understand how they could stay alive for this long under these circumstances but in that very moment it didn't matter anyway.

'Run!' Cameron ordered as the highest ranked officer in the trio. There was only one other officer in the trio though but Cameron's rank was higher than Lorne's.

'Where?' Daniel looked around but couldn't see a gap between the wolves where they could have escaped.

Cameron realized the problem and focused his fire on one particular beast. It obviously didn't like the multiplying effect of the gunfire but kept going forward resolutely.

'Shoot this one!' Cameron ordered the others to join in shooting the creature he had chosen.

'What about the others?' Lorne asked dubiously and kept firing on the other beasts which kept closing up on them.

'Just do it!' Cameron ordered. There was no time for explanations.

Neither Daniel nor Major Lorne were a hundred percent sure it was a good idea to turn away from a dozen beasts, giving them the opportunity to attack them without having to face any kind of resistance. But of one thing they were sure, they couldn't keep on shooting forever without running out of bullets sooner or later and that helped them become more decisive. Daniel silently cursed as he turned away to the creature Cameron was shooting at. So did Lorne. Now with their firepower tripled it took them only as much as a couple of seconds to make the wraith fall into the dirty snow. When the dead body hit the cold ground the other, still living creatures were only a couple feet away from the team and they would have only needed a few more seconds to reach their prey. The needed time was not given to them though since the moment there became a gap in the place of the fallen wraith all three stopped firing and fled from their attackers on the escape route they had created. They ran at top speed without really knowing where they would end up but as they heard the strenuous gasping of the beasts behind them they just hoped that they would be able to lose them.

The mutant creatures had obviously preserved the speed of the wolves as they maneuvered between the trees without losing speed. Also whenever the trio suddenly changed direction trying to surprise the beasts they reacted quickly and followed them as if it were the simplest thing in the world. There seemed to be no escape.

After a couple of minutes the three men all started to feel the effects of the long and tiring run and they needed to make hard efforts to prevent themselves from slowing down. They needed to keep their speed up because the creatures behind them kept following relentlessly. The time they spent running felt like forever. Just like as if they were a part of a never ending chase. Lorne checked the life sign detector to see if the direction they were heading there were more wraith beasts waiting for them or not. Not far ahead a little to their right there was another group of blue dots but the left side of the screen was blank.

'This way!' Lorne shouted as he took a sharp turn left.

The others followed without doubting his instincts. Though they were heading to a clear area they didn't have the luxury of losing the chasing wolves.

'There!' Cameron said and pointed at the darkness in front of them.

For a moment none of the others saw what the colonel did but as they took a couple more steps, they could see the huge hole in a stone wall in front of them. It wasn't something that had been created by the nature and Daniel, as an archeologist, could tell that it wasn't built by any known people.

'This is our best chance,' Cameron added as he felt the doubt in the other's hearts.

Cameron himself had doubts whether the cave was a safe place or not but as he looked back over his shoulder at the growling beasts he could tell they would stand a better chance in there than in the open.

Daniel was the first to enter the cavern followed by Lorne and Cameron. When they were all inside they finally stopped but couldn't take the deeply desired rest after the long-distance sprint because of the growling creatures at the mouth of the cave.  
The three men turned back to face the beasts and once again started shooting at them hoping they would be able to make them go away. The beasts' painful roaring almost felt natural to the trio. They kept shooting but at first nothing happened. The clips in their P-90s were almost empty and they knew that if they were to reload it would give the opportunity for the beasts to attack and most certainly kill them. They could only hope for a miracle to save them.  
Suddenly Lorne raised his hand. 'Hold your fire!'

'They're gonna tear us into pieces.' Daniel replied without moving his finger off of the trigger.

'I don't think so.' Lorne disagreed and lowered his weapon.

To Cameron and Daniel Lorne's words didn't make any sense at the moment but as they thought about it a little longer they realized that during their time on the SGC they had learned that things that don't make any sense do happen.

'I'm so gonna regret this.' Cameron muttered and followed Lorne's example; he also lowered his weapon.

Seeing the other too Daniel couldn't do anything but do as they did so he too stopped firing. They waited silently without moving for the beasts to attack. But in opposition to what they were expecting the beasts kept growling for a couple of second then slowly slouched away. The trio waited for the creatures to return but they didn't.

'Ok, what the hell was that about?' Cameron asked with a perplexed expression on his face.

'No idea here.' Lorne gave an extremely unsatisfying answer. Unsatisfying it was but he didn't have any better.

'Jackson?' The colonel looked at Daniel questioningly, hoping the younger man would be able to give him a better explanation.

Daniel just shrugged and it told Cameron he had no idea either. Daniel spoke after all.

'Whatever it was, I don't think this was just a coincidence.'

'What do you mean?' Lorne was faster to ask the obvious question.

'When you checked the detector you told us to come this way because there were no more of these things here. Then we found this cave where we would have been checkmated if those beasts decided to come for us. But they didn't. They just went away.' Daniel explained.

Hard as it was to believe it was the way it happened.

'So, what do we do…,' Lorne started but he was cut off by a huge scream coming from deeper in the cave.

'What the…,' this time Cameron was cut off by Daniel.

'Vala!'

As Daniel said the name they all realized the archeologist was right. Without waiting for an order from Cameron Daniel stormed away into the darkness of the cave. Cameron knew that orders were unnecessary so he and Lorne followed Daniel.

Daniel didn't care if the others were following him. He didn't care what would be waiting for him on the other end of the tunnel. There was only one thing on his mind, one name that kept repeating in his head like a broken record.

Vala.

oOo

When Vala woke up she found herself sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall of her cell. She didn't remember falling asleep but she felt just as tired as she had been before. That wasn't surprising since sleeping sitting on the cold floor against a rugged stone wall was never too relaxing.

Vala slowly stood up and felt how numb her limbs had become. She started walking around the cell trying to gather her thoughts. She remembered the two voices speaking about some kind of retrovirus and the beasts but couldn't remember the details. Her head was about to explode and she was cold too which certainly didn't make it easier to think either. She couldn't tell exactly how long she had been there in the cavern but by then her eyes got used to the dark. The small cavern she was stuck in was still empty; she was still the only prisoner.

She was about to sit back to the place she now called hers when suddenly she heard voices on the other side of the walls. They came from the same direction as they voices she had heard before and as much as she could tell they were the same. She moved closer to the walls so that she could hear what the two were talking about.

'The hybrids have chased the team here. We just have to wait for them to find us and we will be able to kill them too.' Vala could identify the voice with the one she named First.

'We shall finish this one before the others get here.' Vala could now hear Second's familiar voice too.

'With her death we will become stronger and will kill the rest easily.' First added.

Chills ran down Vala's spine as she heard the short conversation. Her captors could have killed her right away when she was brought here but they didn't. They were waiting for long enough to let Vala think they had other plans. That they wouldn't kill her. Now that last ray of hope was gone.

Suddenly a part of the wall disappeared as if it was just a hologram and two figures appeared in the cavern. Vala wanted to scream but her voice was stuck in her throat.

The two men in front of her were scarier by their looks than their voices. They looked partly human but still they were different. Both had long white hair and they had teeth that were sharper than human's.

They slowly moved closer to Vala who was backing away from them until her back hit the wall behind her. There was nowhere to go. The two wraith were now only a couple of feet from her. Vala laid her hands on the rock behind her hoping it would disappear but it stayed solid. The wraith lifted their hands and Vala spotted the cuts on their palms.

'Say goodbye to this world.' One of the wraith said with a scary grin on his face and when his eyes started to glow Vala couldn't keep her voice inside anymore, she let out a painful scream, one that would probably be her last.

oOo

Vala closed her eyes, waiting for her death when suddenly she heard the familiar sound of a P-90 a few feet away from her. She opened her eyes and saw the surprised faces of the wraith in front of her. The evil grin subsided into a pained expression.

The two hands that were ready to afflict were still in the air. Another series of shots followed the first and the two wraith fell on the ground. Vala looked at the hole in the wall where the wraith entered the cell and saw Daniel, Cameron and Major Lorne standing there with their weapons in their hands.

'I think you should wait with that goodbye.' Daniel said with a warm smile on his face.

'Yeah.' Vala muttered and ran to him, hugging him tight.

Daniel held Vala close to him as a sigh of relief left his mouth. He breathed in her scent but he couldn't get enough of it. He wanted to say and ask so many things but it wasn't the right time.

'I'm so glad you're here.' Vala said with her voice trembling and buried herself deeper into Daniel's embrace.

'It's ok now. It's ok.' Daniel repeated trying to relax her.

'I thought I'd never see you again.' Vala said, sobbing. Tears appeared in her eyes, the tears of relief.

Lorne walked over to the two bodies on the floor, examining them.

'How did these get here?' He asked when he was sure they were really wraith.

'I think the real question is if there are more.' Cameron said, anxiety reflecting on his features.

None of them could answer that question.

'Their eyes glowed.' Vala said as Daniel released her.

'What do you mean glow?' Cameron asked, confused.

'They are Goa'uld.'

'That's impossible.' Daniel stated.

'No. They really are.' Vala assured.

They all knew what danger it would mean if it was true.

'We have to find the others.' Daniel said.

Cameron nodded in accord and tipped his head towards the exit. 'Let's go.'

'What about them?' Major Lorne asked looking at the bodies.

'They're dead,' came the simple answer from Cameron as he left the cavern.

Lorne wasn't fully satisfied with that answer but he didn't argue. After Daniel and Vala he left the cavern too.

One the way out they didn't meet anyone, the tunnel was quiet. Once they were outside Lorne checked the life sign detector but couldn't see that signs of the other team on the screen.

'They're too far away. I can't see them.'

'Great. Do you remember which way we came from?' Daniel asked.

'Maybe.' Lorne answered briefly and headed towards the trees on their right.

The others followed without a word. They all wanted to get as far from the cave as possible.

They had been walking for about ten minutes without meeting anyone or anything when Lorne saw a dot moving in their direction.

'Stop.' He whispered to the others. 'There's someone coming.'

Cameron walked to Lorne and took a look at the screen.

'They usually hunt in groups.' He said as he saw the one lonely dot.

'It might be a wraith we met in the cave.' Vala said hoping she was wrong.

'It might.' Cameron agreed and tightened his grip on his gun.

Soon they could hear the rustling of the leaves, the noise that they identified as danger. Vala moved behind Daniel to take cover and waited for the scary face to appear from the trees.

The sound grew louder and louder when suddenly a dark face appeared in front of them.

'Teal'c!' Cameron shouted but he was rather relieved than angry.

'It is good to see you Cameron Mitchell.' Teal'c said and they could see the relief in his eyes too.

'You too, muscles,' Vala responded as she came out of Daniel's cover.

'It is a pleasure to see you well.' Teal'c said and bowed his head.

'They had no chance of breaking me.'

'I am afraid I have t tell you bad news. It appears that somehow the wraith are possessed by the Goa'uld.' Teal'c informed the team.

'We know. Just met 'em.' Cameron replied.

'We must find O'Neill and Colonel Carter then. They are in grave danger.' Teal'c continued.

'We were just headed for them. You can join us, Teal'c.' Cameron invited the Jaffa and after he nodded they continued their way through the night.

oOo

'Sir, we can't hold them for much longer!' Sam warned while shooting at the beasts around them.

She was standing next to Jack with their backs to each other, fighting tenaciously against the creatures that seemed to be immortal. And when finally they succeeded in killing one, two had already taken its place.

'See that, Carter.' Jack replied. 'We should change strategy.'

'I think we should simply run.'

'That's what I was gonna say, go!' Jack ordered.

They stopped firing and ran into the woods where they hoped the beasts were not going to be able to find them. For some time they could hear the wraith creatures behind them but as they kept running they managed to get farther away from their pursuers. Jack was the first to get tired and he noticed that he couldn't keep up with Sam on full speed. When Sam noticed Jack was falling behind she stopped and turned back towards the general.

'Come on, sir. Over here!' Sam gestured with a flourish of her arm.

Jack kept running until he reached Sam and they moved to a fallen tree that was next to the path they had come on. It seemed to provide them the refuge they needed. After a couple of minutes passed without the voices of the beasts they relaxed a bit.

They sat down on the ground and leaned against the trunk of the huge tree. As the moon lit that part of the forest Jack could see the face of Sam covered with blood and a few scars. She was exhausted more that Jack first thought.

'You alright?' He asked apprehensively. He was worried about Sam.

'Yes, sir.' She answered without looking at Jack but she couldn't lie to him. He knew her just too well. 'I'm not.' She confessed.

'It's gonna be okay.' Jack said and sent an uncertain smile towards Sam.

She wanted to believe it would.

Silence fell on the two of them and all they could hear were the sounds of the first raindrops as they hit the ground. As she felt the wet drops on her skin, Sam closed her eyes and turned her face towards the sky letting the falling rain wash the blood from her face. The rain continued to fall heavier and it felt refreshing as the cool water streamed down on Sam's face. When Jack turned towards her he didn't see a tired soldier next to him but the most beautiful woman in the world. He could have just sat there and watched her forever.

Slowly Sam lowered her head and looked at the ground in front of her. Jack kept his eyes on her but she didn't seem to notice. They kept listening to the rain until Sam suddenly turned to Jack and looked straight into his brown eyes and from that Jack knew she was aware of him staring at her the whole time. Even in the faint light Jack got lost in the blue ocean of Sam's eyes.

'I meant what I said earlier.' She said.

As the words reached Jack's mind he returned to reality and put the serious soldier mask back on his face.

'Which was…?' He left the end of the question hanging in the air as if he didn't remember.

'About my feelings. That I want to be with you. When you said there is always hope, it truly made me believe that there's a chance for us.'

She truly surprised him. Jack never would have thought she was going to bring the subject up. His gaze fell on a lonely rock on the ground in front of him. He let out a painful sigh before he spoke.

'It's not always about what we want.' Every word came out of his mouth as a whisper.

'Why?' Sam cried letting her emotions take control over her. Jack words deeply hurt her and she felt her eyes become wet, this time not from the rain but from tears.

He looked into her eyes and answered this time more distinctly. 'Come on, Carter. I'm a fifty-year-old Air Force general. You can't think there's still chance for us.'

His own words hurt him almost as much as they hurt Sam and they weren't easy to say.

'I don't think. I _know_.' She said fighting her tears.

'No. It's too late for Sam and Jack.'

Sam hardly believed what she just heard. For the past ten years she had secretly believed that one day her dreams would come true. Ten years of hope and it was torn apart in a second. She felt like Jack had just stabbed her in the heart with a dagger.

Jack turned away from her. He couldn't look into her eyes because he knew the pain and hurt he would see would kill him. The rain kept falling monotonously, the drops hitting the ground with a certain rhythm.

Sam kept gazing Jack's features, trying to decipher his expression but it seemed that he meant what he said.

Somewhere in the distance they heard a beast's cry fill the silence. Sam hesitated whether or not she should say what she was going to say and decided there was nothing to lose.

'Sir, if we don't make it I want you to know that,' she started but was cut off by Jack.

'Nobody's gonna die, Carter. We all gonna make it out alive and have…cake.' The words that at other times would make Sam smile didn't have the desired effect. He knew it wouldn't cheer her up but he had to give it a try.

'Kiss me.' She suddenly said.

'Excuse me?' He couldn't believe that after all he had said she really did ask him to kiss her.

'I need to know something. Please, Jack.' Her heart was broken but she couldn't let him go without knowing what it felt like. 'One kiss.'

Her tone was begging and Jack couldn't say no. He slowly leaned in to kiss her. Sam closed her eyes and moved towards Jack. Their lips almost met when a sudden cry broke the silence only mere feet away from them.

Jack immediately reacted and pulled away from Sam, taking his P-90 into his hands and looked into the direction of the voice, searching for its source. Across from them a beast appeared from the woods and ran towards them. Jack sprang up as fast as he could and jumped between Sam and the beast before the creature could have reached her. He started shooting but the beast had come too close by then. Jack kept firing resolutely but knew there was no use. The beast reached him and with a huge flourish of its fore-foot it ripped his BDU shirt apart, tearing up his chest with the same move. The sudden pain Jack felt was worse than anything he had felt before. Jack fell to his knees and his hands couldn't hold his P-90 anymore, it hit the ground beside him. The world around him became blurred, the voices became distorted. He could hear Sam crying 'no' behind him and then the sound of her P-90. The rest of his strength had slipped away and he couldn't keep kneeling; he fell to his side. He couldn't sort the voices around him anymore; everything had become a huge blur. He rolled to his back as he was trying to breathe, unsuccessful. He couldn't tell how much time had passed when he felt Sam's arms around him. She kneeled beside him and moved him to her lap, resting his head against her chest. He heard her crying and it made him even weaker.

'Please Jack, hold on.' She begged him, sobbing. She saw his blood had impregnated his shirt and knew the end was close.

Jack gathered his last strength and whispered his last words, almost imperceptibly. 'I'm sorry.'

'Don't die, Jack, I need you.' Her begging was mixed with hysterical sobs. She held him close to her, never wanting to let go.

Jack felt as life left his body and slowly everything started to darken around him. The last breath escaped his lips and his eyelids slowly closed, leaving him in eternal darkness.

Sam laid a light kiss on his silver hair and whispered the words he would never have the chance to hear.

'I love you.'

~TBC


End file.
